[Esthesioneuroblastoma: histogenesis and diagnosis]

Tumors of the rat induced by means of two different nitrosamines (N-nitrosopiperidine, 2,6-dimethylnitrosomorpholine) were analyzed with the light and electron microscope and by immunohistological investigation. The ultrastructural analysis showed mainly in the Flexner rosettes some clear characteristics of olfactory epithelium such as olfactory vesicles, cilia, and microtubules. With four exceptions, the immunohistologically investigated tumor cells showed no immunofluorescence after incubation with antibodies against intermediate filaments. The results resemble in all aspects the structures found in human esthesioneuroepitheliomas, so that it is reasonable to speak of an identical tumor. As the sensory cells of the normal olfactory epithelium as well as the light basal cells show a negative reaction with antibodies against intermediate filaments, too, the induced tumor is derived histogenetically from the olfactory epithelium and the light basal cell is assumed to be its stem cell.