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Melanin‐like pigment in the human prostate
Author(s) -
Seman Gabriel,
Gallager H. Stephen,
Johnson Douglas E.
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
the prostate
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.295
H-Index - 123
eISSN - 1097-0045
pISSN - 0270-4137
DOI - 10.1002/pros.2990030109
Subject(s) - prostate , melanin , prostate disease , medicine , pigment , pathology , biology , chemistry , cancer , biochemistry , organic chemistry
Twenty surgical specimens of prostate [1 histologically normal, 8 with benign hyperplasia (BPH), and 11 with cancer (PCa)] were examined by histochemical staining methods for the presence of a melanin‐like pigment that we first observed in organ culture. Fontana‐Masson‐positive pigment was observed in epithelial cells of the normal specimen, of five BPH and of eight PCa. The distribution of pigment in BPH was unpredictable and patchy. The pigment was consistently absent in neoplastic epithelia. Silver‐positive stromal cells also were observed in a number of the specimens. The epithelial pigment reacted to histochemical stains in part like melanin, in part like lipofuscin. It probably represents an endogenous pigment similar to other types of noncutaneous melanins.