Expression of platelet-derived growth factor beta-receptors on stromal tissue cells in human carcinoid tumors

Carcinoid tumors of the midgut type are slowly growing neoplasms which often present clinically and histologically pronounced fibrosis around the tumors. Cryosections from 41 neuroendocrine tumors (31 midgut carcinoid tumors, 8 endocrine pancreatic carcinomas, 1 parathyroid carcinoma, and 1 pheochromocytoma) and 22 nonneuroendocrine carcinomas were examined for the presence of platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) beta-receptor by immunohistochemistry using the monoclonal antibody PDGFR-B2. Twenty midgut carcinoid tumor tissues (66%) and 4 endocrine pancreatic carcinomas (50%) and the parathyroid carcinoma stained positively with the antibody. In contrast, only 2 nonneuroendocrine tumor tissues (10%) were stained, and the staining in these cases was weak. The immunoreaction in the carcinoid tumors was observed in connective tissue cells adjacent to tumor cell clusters but not in the tumor cells themselves. The degree of positive PDGF beta-receptor expression in the carcinoid tissues seems to correlate positively with the presence of macrophages as determined by the monoclonal antibody anti-Leu-M5, but not with other infiltrated lymphocytes identified with the monoclonal antibody anti-Leu-4, or with anti-HLA-DR antibodies. Stromal cells adjacent to tumor cells, including small capillaries, stained more strongly than the stromal cells which were distant from tumor cell clusters. Furthermore, carcinoid tumor metastases from lymph nodes as well as from liver showed stronger immunoreactivity in the stromal cells with the PDGF beta-receptor antibody than the corresponding primary tumors. Our data suggest that carcinoid tumor cells may directly or indirectly induce expression of PDGF beta-receptor on adjacent stromal cells in the tumor tissue, which may contribute to the fibrosis that is often seen around carcinoid tumors.