A case of cerebellar medulloblastoma with clusters of mature ganglion cells and glial cells is described. The patient, a 15 ‐year ‐old girl, underwent three operations followed each time by radiation and chemotherapy during the four‐year clinical course. Histologically, the ganglion cells were clearly identifiable by their abundant eosino‐philic cytoplasm, round nuclei with prominent nucleoli, tigroid granules, and argyrophilic fibrils and axons. Im‐munohistochemically, the cells were NSE‐ and NF positive, and ultrastructurally they contained abundant tubules and filaments, neurosecretory granules and well developed rough endoplasmic reticulum. There were many cells transitional in appearance between primitive cells and mature ganglion cells. The tumor also had many mature yet atypical astrocytes and oligodendrocytes. The exact mechanism of the extensive neuronal and glial maturation of medulloblastoma cells is unclear, but the repetitive surgical interventions, radiation and chemotherapy might have had certain cytostatic effects on rapidly dividing medulloblastoma cells, giving them a chance to mature into postmitotic cells with potential for neuronal and glial differentiation. Acta Pathol Jpn 40: 50–56, 1990.
Acidic and basic fibroblast growth factors (aFGF and bFGF) are closely related peptide mitogens acting on both mesoderm‐ and neuroectoderm‐derived cells, including fibroblasts, endothelial cells and glial cells. In order to identify the expression of mRNAs for these growth factors, in situ hybridization using human aFGF and bFGF RNA probes was performed in 24 human brain tumors. The mRNAs for aFGF and bFGF were expressed in the cells of various tumors (1/1 and 1/1 astrocytoma, 2/2 and 2/2 anaplastic astrocytomas, 6/6 and 6/6 glioblastomas, 4/4 and 4/4 meningiomas, 3/3 and 3/3 schwannomas, 1/2 and 1/2 pituitary adenomas, 4/4 and 4/4 metastatic carcinomas, 0/1 and 0/1 hemangioblastoma, 0/1 and 0/1 craniopharyngioma) and were also detected in endothelial cells and surrounding neuronal cells of brain tumors. These results suggest the possibilities that aFGF and bFGF contribute to the uncontrolled growth of tumor cells and the proliferation of endothelial cells in autocrine and paracrine manners, and that the expression of mRNAs for these growth factors in the surrounding neuronal cells results in enhancement of tumor growth.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.