Orcein-alcian blue technique for demonstration of prostatic mucins

Mucin production by prostatic carcinomas has been recognized for many years. The identification of acidic mucin with an appropriate stain may be useful in routine diagnostic surgical pathology. In this study of 30 cases of prostatic carcinoma, 6 [20%] demonstrated significant sulfated acid mucin production by tumor cells. All of the tumors which produced significant amount of mucin were either moderately or well differentiated while, tumors of poor differentiation showed less mucin. The use of such relatively simple, inexpensive histochemical stain such as modified orcein-alcian blue may help to confirm suspicions gleaned from a crushed needle biopsy and convert an equivocal report to definitive diagnosis