The immunohistochemical detection of prostatic acid phosphatase: its possibilities and limitations in tumour histochemistry

Abstract

The immunological specificity of the Amsterdam rabbit antiserum against human prostatic acid phosphatase was studied on paraffin sections of 200 prostatic carcinomas and 330 control tissues using an indirect peroxidase technique. Peripheral blood leucocyte smears were also investigated with a fluorescent technique. In a limited number of cases, the mixed aggregation immunocytochemical method was also applied as post-primary incubation procedure. The diaminobenzidine (DAB) final reaction product of the peroxidase technique, carried out under standard conditions, was quantified in some cases using the Leyden Television Analysis System (LEYTAS) with a built-in standard. A positive reaction was obtained in 96.5% of the prostatic carcinomas. Only 2.1% of the non-prostatic tumour cases (23 types) showed a positive reaction, namely six out of 10 insulomas and one out of 10 carcinoid tumours. The beta-cells of the normal islet of Langerhans and the leucocytes in the smears showed a positive reaction. The sensitivity of the peroxidase method, judged subjectively, is not only dependent on the circumstances of fixation, embedding and incubation but also on the degree of tumour differentiation. None of the three prostatic carcinomas studied reached the level of DAB staining intensity shown by the hyperplastic prostatic epithelium.

A novel hybridoma antibody (PASE/4LJ) to human prostatic acid phosphatase suitable for immunohistochemistry

“…The antibody shares the previously described recognition of an epitope(s) in some carcinoids of the gastrointestinal tract (Sobin et al, 1986), pancreatic islet cells, and islet cell tumours (Choe et al, 1978;Jobsis et al, 1981;Yam et al, 1981;Cohen et al, 1983). The proportion of gastrointestinal carcinoids positive for PAP appears to be maximal distally (Sobin et al, 1986), and the positivity of rectal carcinoids may be a problem if the antibody is to be used for the differential diagnosis of tumours involving the wall of the rectum with no apparent mucosal origin.…”

“…With the PASE/4LJ monoclonal antibody no staining was seen in granulocytes (Yam et al, 1981), osteoclasts (Jobsis et al, 1981), parietal cells of the stomach, liver cells, renal cell or breast carcinomas (Li et al, 1980;Yam et al, 1981).…”

Neuroendocrine Tumors of the Liver and Pancreas Associated with Elevated Serum Prostatic Acid Phosphatase.

“…With these results, however, it seemed difficult to determine whether it was the liver or pancreas tumor which was the primary tumor. On the other hand, PAPproduction by a neuroendocrine tumor of the liver or pancreas is considered to be very rare, and only a few cases have been reported in which islet cell tumors and insulomas are shown to produce PAP (9)(10)(11)(12). Here, we report this case with a review of literature on PAP-producing neuroendocrine tumors.…”

“…PAP production by neuroendocrine tumors reported in the past literature is summarized in Table 1 (29,30). PAPproduction is rare in carcinoid tumors of the stomach which are offoregut origin; it is seen in approximately 10-20% of carcinoid tumors of the small intestine which are of midgut origin, and is frequent in the carcinoid tumors of the rectum which are ofhindgut origin (9,12). As far as we know, PAP production has not been reported in primary liver carcinoid and in non-endocrine apudoma of the pancreas (3,10,23,28).…”

“…In contrast, PAP production has been reported in two cases of islet cell tumor of the pancreas, insuloma and in occasional cells in normal Langerhans islets ( 1 2-14). Therefore, if the primary site of the PAP-producing neuroendocrine tumor in the present case was the pancreas, the tumor cells may have originated from insulin-producing cells, occasional cells of normal Langerhans islets or their ancestral cells (12,29,31). PAPis a sensitive but not a specific marker of prostatic carcinoma (12,32), and high serum PAP associated with normal PSAis characteristic of neuroendocrine tumors of nonprostate origin (9).…”