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PubMedDate not supplied

Neuroendocrine markers; chromogranin, pancreastatin and serotonin in the management of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma.

A fraction of patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC) exhibit elevated plasma levels of neuroendocrine (NE) markers, including chromogranin (Cg) A and B, pancreastatin and serotonin. This may suggest neuroendocrine involvement in human RCC. Twenty eight patients (24 men and 4 women) with advanced RCC were included in this study. The ongoing therapy was either tamoxifen, or interleukin-2 (IL-2); alpha interferon and tamoxifen. Plasma analyses of NE markers revealed elevated levels of CgA and serotonin in 28/28 (100%) patients. CgB was elevated in 5/16 (31%) patients, whereas no elevation of pancreastatin was observed in these 16/28 patients. Although the plasma levels of NE markers did not statistically or significantly influence the prognosis of the disease it was observed that patients with elevated NE markers had a less aggressive disease and lived longer than patients with normal or only slightly elevated NE markers. Immunohistochemical analyses of tumour specimens from 10 patients were chromogranin, serotonin and synaptophysin negative, but all were neurone-specific enolase (NSE) positive. The results obtained are of interest. However, extended studies are needed to define the role of these NE markers in the clinical management of patients with RCC.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Biological characteristics of adrenocortical carcinoma: a study of p53, IGF, EGF-r, Ki-67 and PCNA in 17 adrenocortical carcinomas.

Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare neoplasm with a poor prognosis. Prognostic factors are needed to identify patients who should be treated aggressively and those for which a less aggressive approach is warranted. As a result of advances within the field of immunohistochemistry, investigations of Ki-67, PCNA, IGF, EGF-r and p53 were performed in 17 ACC. The aim of this study was to clarify the role of Ki-67, PCNA, EGF-r, IGF and p53 in correlation to tumour behaviour and outcome. This retrospective study includes 16 patients, 10 women and 6 men, with a median age of 46 years. Nine tumours were hormonally functioning and 7 were non-functioning. The results obtained revealed that all tumours expressed PCNA and Ki-67 with median values of 59% and 14%, respectively, while p53 was negative in 88%, IGF negative in 82% and EGF-r positive in 94% of the tumours. No correlation was found between p53, IGF, EGF-r and survival rate. There was no interdependence between PCNA and Ki-67, or between PCNA, Ki-67 and the survival rate.

Adrenal Cortex Neoplasms↗