Secretagogin is a new neuroendocrine marker in the human prostate

Background Neuroendocrine (NE) differentiation in prostate cancer (PCa), promoted by NE cell secreted products, appears to be associated with tumor progression, poor prognosis, and hormone‐refractory disease. We recently reported secretagogin, a hexa‐EF‐hand Ca2+ binding protein, as a novel NE marker in carcinoid tumors of the lung and the gastrointestinal tract. The present study analyzes the expression of secretagogin in normal and malign prostate tissue. Methods We analyzed immunoreactivity for secretagogin, chromogranin A (CgA), neuron specific enolase (NSE), and synaptophysin (SYN) in consecutive sections from 87 formalin‐fixed paraffin‐embedded (FFPE) benign hyperplastic (n = 10) and prostate adenocarcinoma (n = 77) specimens. The intracellular distribution of secretagogin, CgA, and NSE was examined by confocal fluorescent microscopy, and we characterized secretagogin in eight samples by Western blotting. Results Secretagogin is cytoplasmic and nuclear expressed in NE and NE differentiated cells, and to a lesser extent in epithelial cells, in the benign prostate and prostate adenocarcinoma cells. Secretagogin stained 82% (46/56) of benign and 71% (48/68) of prostate adenocarcinomas and co‐localized with the NE markers CgA and NSE. The expression of secretagogin is significantly correlated to CgA (P