| pubmed-article:9140124 | pubmed:abstractText | Neuroendocrine (NE) differentiation of prostatic adenocarcinomas has received increasing attention in recent years as a result of possible implications on prognosis and therapy. The incidence of NE cells in tumors has been reported from 10% up to 100%. Several studies have shown chromogranin A (CgA) to be the most reliable serum marker of NE differentiation. We have followed 22 patients with prostatic adenocarcinoma over a 2-year period. The patients underwent a palliative transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) because of urinary outflow obstruction. The prostatic tissue specimens were stained immunohistochemically using antibodies against CgA, chromogranin B (CgB), neuron-specific enolase (NSE), thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), serotonin, and somatostatin. In addition, each specimen was stained with hematoxylin & eosin (H & E), and saffran for tumor grading. Blood samples were taken preoperatively and after 1, 3, 6, and 24 months. The serum values of CgA, CgB, pancreastatin (Pst), NSE, and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) were determined from each sample. Carcinomas with groups of CgA-positive cells had higher serum levels of CgA compared to carcinomas with no or only scattered CgA-positive NE cells. During the 2-year period, there were no statistical significant variations in serum levels of CgA, NSE, Pst, and PSA. However, there was a significant increase in serum levels of CgB during the same period, P = 0.002, possibly due to an increase in number of NE cells in tumor or to a relative increase in production of CgB in the NE cells. | lld:pubmed |
