NEUROENDOCRINE CELLS IN BENIGN AND MALIGNANT PROSTATE TISSUE - MORPHOGENESIS, PROLIFERATION, AND ANDROGEN RECEPTOR STATUS

BACKGROUND. The presence of neuroendocrine (NE) differentiation in ben ign and neoplastic prostate tissue has attracted increasing attention in contemporary prostate cancer research. METHODS. The present review focuses on the proliferation and androgen receptor (AR) status of NE p henotypes and their morphogenetic origin in benign and malignant prost ate tissue. RESULTS. Recent data have documented phenotype relation be tween NE cells and ether cell lineages in benign and malignant prostat e tissue indicating their common origin. NE cell types (as defined by the most commonly used endocrine marker, chromogranin A) do not show e vidence of cell proliferation and consistently lack the nuclear AR in both benign and malignant conditions. CONCLUSIONS. Prostatic NE cells most likely derive from local stern cells and represent terminally dif ferentiated and androgen-insensitive cell populations in benign prosta te tissue. The frequent occurrence of NE differentiation in prostatic adenocarcinoma obviously reflects the differentiation repertoire of it s stem cells. Neoplastic NE cells devoid of nuclear AR constitute an a ndrogen-insensitive cell population in prostate cancer. Furthermore, t he absence of proliferation activity may endow NE tumor cells with rel ative resistance toward cytotoxic drugs and radiation therapy. Prostat e Supplement 8:18-22, 1998. (C) 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.