PULMONARY PARAGANGLIOID CARCINOIDS AND BCL-2 ONCOPROTEIN EXPRESSION

Bcl-2 protein immunoreactivity was examined in 10 pulmonary carcinoid tumors with abundant S-100 protein-positive sustentacular cells (SCs) diagnosed as paraganglioid carcinoids. Its positivity in the mentioned tumors was compared with that of neoplasms formed of neuroendocrine c ells only (30 pulmonary carcinoids), and with another group of 30 lesi ons consisting of neuroendocrine and sustentacular elements, i.e., par agangliomas (11 paragangliomas of the glomus caroticum and 9 jugulotym panic paragangliomas [JPTGs]), pheochromocytomas (5 cases), and a rare form of pulmonary tumorlets (PTUs) with a high frequency of SCs (5 ca ses). Bcl-2 protein was found in all 70 examined cases, and its expres sion showed no difference between the examined groups. On the basis of these results, bcl-2 protein expression was not found to be an indica tor for either survival or useful for the differential diagnosis of pu lmonary carcinoid tumors.