HUMAN ABERRANT CRYPT FOCI WITH CARCINOMA IN-SITU FROM A PATIENT WITH SPORADIC COLON-CANCER

Aberrant crypt foci are putative preneoplastic lesions found in the co lons of carcinogen-treated rodents and at an increased frequency in hu mans at increased risk for colon cancer, There is a strong association between aberrant crypt foci and colon cancer, including many shaved p henotypic and genetic alterations, The aim of this study is to present further evidence of a relationship between aberrant crypt foci and co lon cancer in humans. Multiple aberrant crypt foci from a single patie nt were identified in unembedded colonic mucose. Histological sections of the aberrant crypt foci and adjacent mucose were evaluated for dys plasia, proliferative activity, and pigment-laden macrophages that wer e characterized with histochemical techniques, The first patient with sporadic colon cancer identified with aberrant crypt foci with carcino ma in situ is described. it is interesting that this 99-year-old patie nt had multiple carcinomas in situ, pseudomelanosis coli, and two meta chronous colon cancers. These data lend support to the hypothesis that aberrant crypt foci are precursors of some colon cancers.