Immunohistochemical analysis of the proliferative activity of neuroendocrine tumors from various organs - Are there indications for a neuroendocrine tumor-carcinoma sequence?

Small-cell neuroendocrine carcinomas (NECs) of the prostate are believed no t to derive from benign orthotopic NE epithelial cells. Instead, an origin from a putative stem cell is actually the most favored concept. Whether thi s concept can also be applied to neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) of other orga ns, especially whether there are indications for well-differentiated NET-NE C sequence, is subject of the present study. A double-labeling technique fo r the proliferation marker MIB-1 and the NE markers chromogranin A (ChrA) a nd synaptophysin (SNP) was used for the immunohistochemical analysis of 45 well-differentiated NETs, 16 well-differentiated (low-grade) NECs, and 63 h igh-grade NECs of the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, appendix, colon, lung, prostate, and urinary bladder. The lowest proliferative activity was found in NETs (0.85% of tumor cells), and the highest activity was found i n high-grade NECs (72.5%). The expression of ChrA was highest in NETs and l owest in high-grade NECs. None of the NETs and only sporadic cells in low-g rade NECs showed double labeling (up to 0.05%). Up to 50% of the tumor cell s in high-grade NECs were positive for MIB-1 and SNP. The percentage of dou ble-labeled cells ranged between 0.9 and 39.6 (mean 9.7). No double-labeled cells were found in the normal epithelium adjacent to the tumors. Transiti ons from NET to NEC could not be observed. NETs and low-grade NECs differ i n their proliferative activity from high-grade NECs, suggesting that they m ay arise from different precursor cell populations.