Immunoassay and immunohistology studies of chromogranin A as a neuroendocrine marker in patients with carcinoma of the prostate.(Deftos)

Chromogranin A and B and Secretogranin II in Prostatic Adenocarcinomas: Neuroendocrine Expression in patients Untreated and Treated With Androgen Deprivation Therapy(Pruneri)

Immunoassay and immunohistology studies of chromogranin A as a neuroendocrine marker in patients with carcinoma of the prostate.

Deftos LJ, Nakada S, Burton DW, Di Sant’Agnese A, Cockett ATK and Abrahamsson P-A.
Urology 1996, 48: 58-62.


Neuroendocrine differentiation of prostatic cells may have diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic implications for men with prostate cancer. Chromogranin A (CgA) is just one of a range of products of neuroendocrine differentiation in carcinoma of the prostate. This paper investigates the serum levels and tissue staining of CgA in patients with carcinoma of the prostate. The authors found an elevated serum CgA to identify some patients with tumour who did not have an elevated PSA, though equally some patients with elevated PSA did not demonstrate an elevated CgA. Serum CgA may have a role as a marker for non-PSA secreting tumours or as an indicator of tumour progression. However, further studies will be required to define its clinical application.

Chromogranin A and B and Secretogranin II in Prostatic Adenocarcinomas: Neuroendocrine Expression in patients Untreated and Treated With Androgen Deprivation Therapy
Giancarlo Pruneri, 1 Stefano Galli, 2 Roberta S. Rossi, 2 Massimo Roncalli, 3
Guide Ceggi, 3 Angelo Ferrari, 4 Alchiede Simonato, 2 Antonio G. Siccardi, 5
Nadia Carboni, 1 and Roberto Buffa1

BACKGROUND. Neuroendocrine (NE) expression in prostatic adenocarcinomas (PACs) has been related to an adverse clinical course, but the reported data are not unequivocal. METHODS. We immunostained a series of 64 PACs with three monoclonal antibodies raised against chromogranin A (CgA), chromogranin B (CgB), and secretogranin II (SgII). The patients were followed up for 18-88 months (mean 43 months, standard deviation ~ 20 months); 58 of them received preoperative androgen deprivation therapy for 3-6 months. RESULTS. Of the 64 PACs under study, 39 (-61%) were immunoreactive to CgA, 51 (-80%) to CgB, and 38 (-59%) to SglI. We found a strict correlation between pronounced neuroendocrine differentiation and the most poorly differentiated tumors (P = 0.01 for CgA, P = 0.03 for CgB, and P = 0.05 for SgII), and relationship (approaching statistical significance only for CgB, P = 0.07) between Cgs/Sg expression and advanced (C and D) clinical stage. However, we failed to detect any correlation between chromogranin expression and clinical outcome.

CONCLUSIONS. These results suggest that NE differentiation is a frequent event in PACs, especially in the most poorly differentiated. Nevertheless, as Cgs/Sg expression is not clearly related to advanced clinical stage and poor prognosis, our findings suggest that clinical staging and grading, rather than NE differentiation, remain the most powerful prognostic indicators in PACs. Prostate 34:113-120, 1998. 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.