PMID- 12192931
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20021112
LR  - 20091119
IS  - 0009-4773 (Print)
IS  - 0009-4773 (Linking)
VI  - 54
IP  - 3
DP  - 2002 May-Jun
TI  - [Prevalence of the neuroendocrine phenotype in thymus neoplasms].
PG  - 351-4
AB  - To determine the prevalence of neuroendocrine differentiation in human thymic 
      neoplasms, which are unusual tumours that may range from well-differentiated to 
      overtly malignant, poorly differentiated lesions, an immunohistochemical study 
      was conducted in 23 thymic neoplasms re-classified on the basis of the new 1999 
      WHO classification. Immunohistochemical evidence of neuroendocrine 
      differentiation in the form of reactivity to the markers synaptophysin, 
      neuron-specific enolase and chromogranin A was found in 6 of 23 tissues (26%). 
      Two of 3 patients with thymic carcinoids (or well-differentiated thymic 
      neuroendocrine carcinoma) were affected by multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 
      (MEN-1). Myasthenia gravis was present in 2/6 patients with neuroendocrine 
      differentiation. This study demonstrates the high prevalence of neuroendocrine 
      markers in human thymic neoplasms. Whether and in what percentage of cases 
      immunohistochemical reactivity may be correlated with clinical behaviour and 
      outcome remains a controversial issue. Finally, the association between thymic 
      carcinoids and MEN-1 is a strong indication for clinical and possibly genetic 
      screening of all patients presenting this feature, just as all MEN-1 patients 
      have to undergo thoracic imaging and prophylactic thymectomy in selected cases.
FAU - Ferolla, Piero
AU  - Ferolla P
AD  - Dipartimento di Medicina Interna e Scienze Endocrine, Universita degli Studi di 
      Perugia, Via E. dal Pozzo, 06100 Perugia.
FAU - Urbani, Moira
AU  - Urbani M
FAU - Ascani, Stefano
AU  - Ascani S
FAU - Puma, Francesco
AU  - Puma F
FAU - Ribacchi, Rodolfo
AU  - Ribacchi R
FAU - Battista Bolis, Giovan
AU  - Battista Bolis G
FAU - Santeusanio, Fausto
AU  - Santeusanio F
FAU - Daddi, Giuliano
AU  - Daddi G
FAU - Angeletti, Gabriella
AU  - Angeletti G
FAU - Avenia, Nicola
AU  - Avenia N
LA  - ita
PT  - Comparative Study
PT  - English Abstract
PT  - Journal Article
TT  - Prevalenza del fenotipo neuroendocrino nelle neoplasie del timo.
PL  - Italy
TA  - Chir Ital
JT  - Chirurgia italiana
JID - 0151753
SB  - IM
MH  - Carcinoma, Neuroendocrine/genetics/pathology
MH  - Genetic Testing
MH  - Humans
MH  - Immunohistochemistry
MH  - *Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia Type 1/genetics
MH  - Myasthenia Gravis/diagnosis
MH  - Neuroendocrine Tumors/*genetics/pathology
MH  - *Phenotype
MH  - Thymoma/*genetics/pathology
MH  - Thymus Gland/pathology
MH  - Thymus Neoplasms/classification/*genetics/pathology
MH  - World Health Organization
EDAT- 2002/08/24 10:00
MHDA- 2002/11/26 04:00
CRDT- 2002/08/24 10:00
PHST- 2002/08/24 10:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2002/11/26 04:00 [medline]
PHST- 2002/08/24 10:00 [entrez]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Chir Ital. 2002 May-Jun;54(3):351-4.