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ACTH‐secreting carcinoma of the breast
Author(s) -
Cohle Stephen D.,
Tschen Jaime A.,
Smith Frank E.,
Lane Montague,
McGavran Malcolm H.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0142(197906)43:6<2370::aid-cncr2820430630>3.0.co;2-x
Subject(s) - calcitonin , medicine , argentaffin , cytoplasm , breast carcinoma , endocrinology , human chorionic gonadotropin , secretion , carcinoma , breast cancer , hormone , pathology , cancer , biology , microbiology and biotechnology
We report a case of ACTH‐secreting carcinoma of the breast. Membrane‐bound secretory granules were seen within the cancer cells electron microscopically. Cytoplasmic granules reacting immunochemically to anti‐ACTH antisera were seen on light microscopy. Breast cancers have been shown to secrete calcitonin, parathyroid hormone, human chorionic gonadotropin, and norepinephrine in addition to ACTH. This suggests either the presence of neuroendocrine cells in the breast as a source of such neoplasms, as in the lung, or genomic derepression during neoplastic transformation.