Immunohistochemistry of retinoblastoma. A review

Various studies which relate to the immunohistochemical identification of neuronal, glial, carbohydrate and nucleic acid associated antigens in retinoblastoma will be reviewed. The majority of these studies appear to support the concept that retinoblastomas arise, in situ, from neuron committed cells and in some cases specifically into photoreceptor-like cells. In selected cases, however, glial cell differentiation may be a feature of the tumor. In addition, the molecular biology of the retinoblastoma gene and the immunohistochemical characterization of its gene product will be discussed.