Correlative study on neuro‐endocrine differentiation and presence of somatostatin receptors in breast carcinomas

Abstract

To correlate the expression of neuro‐endocrine (NE) markers with the presence of somatostatin receptors (SSR) in human breast cancer, a series of 100 cases was stained with the Grimelius silver procedure, by immunocytochemistry with specific NE markers (i.e., chromogranin A and B and synaptophysin) and by autoradiography for SSR. Nine cases were positive for at least one NE marker, while 4 cases were positive for all of them. SSR were detected in 17 cases, either with low (10 cases) or with high receptor density (7 cases). A highly significant correlation was established between the expression of NE markers and high SSR density. Our findings are additional evidence of the existence of a group of breast cancers showing morphological and cytochemical similarity with neuro‐endocrine tumors present in other organs. The identification of this type of breast cancer is of biological and potential therapeutic interest.