Summary
Forty medullary carcinomas of the thyroid (MCT) with documented calcitonin (CT) production were studied immunohistochemically for the production of gastrin releasing peptide (GRP), a mammalian counterpart of amphibian bombesin. GRP-positive cells, revealed by an unlabelled peroxidase-antiperoxidase immunoenzyme histochemistry were found in 81% (34/40) of the MCTs. Variable numbers of tumor cells in positive MCTs were immunostained for GRP. In 3 cases with Sipple's syndrome, cells in scattered microscopic MCT nodules and hyperplastic intrafollicular C cells of the thyroid were frequently positive for GRP as well as for CT. Non-neoplastic C cells (or CT-positive cells) of the human thyroids were also positive for GRP. In the neoplastic and non-neoplastic C cell system, some cells were confirmed to be immunoreactive with both anti-GRP and anti-CT. All these findings indicate that GRP and CT are closely associated peptide hormones produced by the C cell system.
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This work was supported in part by Grants-in-Aid for Cancer Research from the Ministry of Health and Welfare (No. 56-6, 57S) and from the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture (5677024, 57010082), Japan
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Kameya, T., Bessho, T., Tsumuraya, M. et al. Production of gastrin releasing peptide by medullary carcinoma of the thyroid. Vichows Archiv A Pathol Anat 401, 99–107 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00644793
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00644793