Incidence of neuroendocrine cells in the seminal vesicles and the prostate--an immunohistochemical study

Prostate and seminal vesicles (sv) are both androgen-dependent male sex accessory glands. The cancer incidence in these two organs is vastly different. Neuroendocrine (NE) cells are involved in the regulation of prostate growth, differentiation and in prostate cancer carcinogenesis. Thus, knowledge of the incidence of NE cells in sv may add to our understanding of prostate cancer etiology. Samples of histologically confirmed normal prostate tissue and normal sv tissue from 20 men were immunostained for chromogranin A. The incidence of stained cells was evaluated semiquantitately. Neuroendocrine cells were detected in all prostate specimens, but not a single stained cell was found in any of the sv specimens. The lack of NE cells and, subsequently, of biogenic amines, peptides and growth factors may be a reason for the low cancer incidence in the seminal vesicles. Alternatively, the absence of NE cells can be seen as a hint that the stem cells of the prostate and sv react differently to endogenous and exogenous stimuli, and thus in the seminal vesicles, stem cells are not transformed into NE cells.