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Apoptosis in hepatocellular carcinomas with neuroendocrine differentiation
M. Zhao and A. Zimmermann
Institute of Pathology of the University of Berne, Berne, Switzerland
Offprint requests to: Dr. Arthur Zimmermann , M.D., Professor of Pathology, Institute of Pathology of the University, Murtenstrasse 31,
CH - 3010 Bern, Switzerland
Summary. We have studied apoptosis in a subset of
thirty hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) exhibiting
neuroendocrine differentiation (ND). Apoptosis was
assessed by use of in situ DNA end labelling, and was
quantified employing a TdT labelling index. It turned out
that apoptosis occurred in HCCs with ND, albeit at
different rates. Apoptosis was visualized as a clearly
detectable reaction product mostly localized in tumor
cell nuclei and in apoptotic bodies. Almost no staining
was observed in nuclei of multinuclear tumor giant cells.
In HCCs with ND, apoptosis was not related to type or
grade, but tumors mainly consisting of hepatocyte-like
cells and/or clear cells showed a significantly higher
apoptotic rate. This was also the cell type mos t
frequently di sclosing neuroendocrine features. The
apoptotic rate was significantly higher in HCCs with ND
than in a control group of HCCs not showing ND. The
findings suggest that neuroendocrine differentiation in
liver cell tumors is associated with an altered pattern of
programmed cell death, and that this phenomenon may
therefore have an influence on clinical behavior. Histol Histopathol 12, 973-980 (1997)
Key words: Hepatocellular carcinoma, Apoptosis, Liver,
Neuroendocrine cells
DOI: 10.14670/HH-12.973
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