Histophotometric Quantification of theField Effectand theExtended Field Effectof Tumors

Abstract

Histophotometric investigations have been made on samples of human skin. Fresh frozen serial sections were fixed and stained for either reactive protein thiols (PSHr) or total reactive protein sulphur (TRPS) using modifications of the DDD-Fast blue B-method. In addition, total protein thiols (PSHt) were stained with the Mercurochromcyanide-method, and proteins were stained using a modified amido-black procedure. Significant differences were found between the different tumours investigated and normal tissue, and also between apparently normal tissue adjacent to the tumours and normal tissue from patients without tumour. To reveal such tumour-related changes of apparently normal tissue, termed the field effect of tumours, a double quotient had to be calculated from the PSHr-and TRPS-values determined from both epithelium (epidermis) and connective tissue. In addition, abdominal skin was investigated from patients without tumour and patients with tumours of the female genital tract, liver or breast. With the aid of the double quotient procedure, highly significant differences were found between normal abdominal skin of patients without tumours versus similar samples taken from patients with tumours. The tumour-related changes found with abdominal skin distant from the tumours have been termed the extended field effect of tumours. These general tumour-related changes, independent of the size, state or degree of malignancy of the distant tumour, could be shown to be due to changes in abdominal dermis.

Increased activity of 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase in purified cell suspensions and single cells from the uterine cervix in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia

“…Our previous work on protein thiols in CIN and cervix carcinoma (Slater et al, 1985;Nohammer et al, 1989;Benedetto et al, 1990) …”

Migration Stimulating Factor (MSF): A Novel Biomarker of Breast Cancer Progression

“…The concept of field cancerisation was first proposed by Slaughter and colleagues [38] to indicate the induction of predisposing (initiating) genetic lesions in the target epithelial cells of a normal tissue due to exposure to genotoxic agents. This hypothesis was supported by later observation and extended to include the presence of predisposing genetic or epigenetic lesions in both epithelial and stromal cell population; such lesions would therefore significantly increase the risk of developing subsequent malignancies [39,40]. According to this view, the presence of functionally aberrant (MSFexpressing) cells may pre-date the generation of overt tumour cells and indicate tissue-wide enhanced susceptibility to the development of neoplastic disease.…”

Phenotypic heterogeneity in breast fibroblasts: Functional anomaly in fibroblasts from histologically normal tissue adjacent to carcinoma

“…Numerous studies have similarly noted the presence of aberrant skin fibroblasts in patients with various types of both sporadic and familial cancer (reviewed in Schor et al, 1987), including cancer of the breast (Azzarone et al, 1987). The systemic presence of aberrant skin fibroblasts at uninvolved sites has previously been attributed to an "extended field effect" of the distant primary tumour (Nohammer et al, 1989). We have, however, noted the presence of foetal-like skin fibroblasts in apparently diseasefree first-degree relatives of familial breast cancer patients (Haggie et al, 1987); such findings suggest that these aberrant skin fibroblasts may precede the development of overt malignant disease.…”