Production of immunoreactive-polypeptide hormones in cervical carcinoma

The levels of immunoreactive-polypeptide hormones were measured in tissue extracts of eight uterine cervical cancers by specific radioimmunoassays. In one case with argyrophil granules, high levels of somatostatin, pancreatic polypeptide, calcitonin, and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) were found, ranging from 160 to 880 ng/g tissue. A second argyrophil cancer contained 310 ng/g tissue of somatostatin, and a third contained 1100 ng/g tissue of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and 380 ng/g of beta-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (beta-MSH). In addition, of the five nonargyrophil cancers tested, four contained calcitonin, three had VIP, two had either somatostatin or glucagon, and one contained ACTH and beta-MSH; the measured levels of these hormones ranged from 1.4 to 2.3 ng/g tissue. Gel filtration on a Sephadex G-75 column showed that the immunoreactive-polypeptide hormones in the first case were chromatographically similar to the authentic or prehormones. These results indicate that ectopic production of multiple immunoreactive-polypeptide hormones is common not only in argyrophil cell carcinoma, but also in nonargyrophil cell carcinoma of the cervix.