URMC Research: Summary

Research on the prostatic neuroendocrine cell and neuroendocrine differentiation in prostate cancer began at URMC in the early 1980's when the field was in its infancy. Up to that time, only a few scattered case reports and a handful of more in depth studies had been published since the time that prostatic neuroendocrine cells were first described by Pretl in 1944.

1. Our group was the first to describe the presence of several peptides in these cells including somatostatin, bombesin-like peptides, calcitonin and related peptides (calcitonin gene-related peptide and katacalcin), and parathyroid hormone-related peptide.
2. The first detailed ultrastructural analysis of prostatic neuroendocrine cells and classification of the neurosecretory granule morphology was performed at the URMC.
3. The foundations for a guinea pig model for prostatic neuroendocrine cells were developed here.
4. We also performed quantitative analysis of serotonin and calcitonin in prostatic tissues.
5. An isoform of the calcitonin receptor was localized to neuroendocrine cells and further characterized.
6. More recently, the clinical significance of serum chromogranin levels in patients with prostatic carcinoma was evaluated.

URMC Research Next Section: Peer-Reviewed Articles

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