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Ultrastructural and electron immunohistochemical features of medullary thyroid carcinoma

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Summary

An ultrastructural study, both morphological and immunohistochemical, has been carried out on eight thyroglobulin-positive and nine thyroglobulin-negative medullary carcinomas of the thyroid. The morphometric analysis of granule size showed that all tumours contained cells with small granules and cells with medium size granules, whereas eight tumours had additional cells with large granules. The small granules had an electron dense core, while the medium and large sized granules were both pale-cored and dense-cored. The cells with small, medium or large secretory granules were all immunoreactive for calcitonin and CGRP. No ultrastructural differences were observed between thyroglobulin-positive and thyroglobulin-negative cases of medullary carcinoma of the thyroid.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology, The Norwegian Radium Hospital and Institute for Cancer Research, Oslo, Norway

    Ruth Holm, George W. Farrants & Jahn M. Nesland

  2. Medical Faculty, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

    Manuel Sobrinho-Simões

  3. Department of Surgical Oncology, The Norwegian Radium Hospital and Institute for Cancer Research, Oslo, Norway

    Ole G. Jørgensen

  4. The Norwegian Radium Hospital and Institute for Cancer Research, Oslo, Norway

    Jan Vincents Johannessen (Director)

  5. Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, USA

    Jan Vincents Johannessen (Director)

  6. The Norwegian Cancer Society, Oslo, Norway

    Ruth Holm, Jahn M. Nesland & Jan Vincents Johannessen (Director)

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  1. Ruth Holm
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  4. Manuel Sobrinho-Simões
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  5. Ole G. Jørgensen
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  6. Jan Vincents Johannessen
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Holm, R., Farrants, G.W., Nesland, J.M. et al. Ultrastructural and electron immunohistochemical features of medullary thyroid carcinoma. Vichows Archiv A Pathol Anat 414, 375–384 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00718620

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