title: Immunocytochemical localization and identification of prosomatostatin gene products in medullary carcinoma of human thyroid gland.
abstract: Thirty-three cases of histologically proven calcitonin-positive medullary thyroid carcinoma were studied immunocytochemically for the occurrence of prosomatostatin-related peptides. Positive cells, identified with a panel of antisera raised against four different regions of the prosomatostatin molecule, were found in 100% of the tumors. Most but not all somatostatin-positive cells were also immunoreactive for calcitonin. Notably, seven patients harboring somatostatin-rich tumors revealed a more favorable clinical course. The results (1) indicate that somatostatin production is a universal concomitant of thyroid medullary carcinoma, (2) suggest that these cells are likely to produce a somatostatin precursor molecule similar to mammalian prosomatostatin, and (3) imply that somatostatin-reactive cells may have as yet unknown roles in these tumors, possibly in the realm of paracrine and autocrine regulation of cell growth.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pathological Anatomy and Cytology, Istituto Nazionale per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Scopsi
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ferrari
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pilotti
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Holst
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Rehfeld
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fossati
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rilke
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002116:Calcitonin / Q000378:metabolism; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000378:metabolism*; D013004:Somatostatin / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000378:metabolism*; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D011498:Protein Precursors; D013004:Somatostatin; C028456:prosomatostatin; D002116:Calcitonin