Neuroblastic differentiation of metastases of medulloblastoma to extracranial lymph node: an ultrastructural study.

Extracranial metastases of a poorly differentiated medulloblastoma in a 12-year-old girl were studied by thin section transmission electron microscopy and immunohistochemistry. The primary tumor did not show any differentiation as revealed by immunohistochemistry. On the contrary, the metastatic tumor cells and their processes disclosed features of neuroblastic differentiation when examined ultrastructurally: microtubules, dense core vesicles, and abortive synaptic ribbons. Several dystrophic neurites containing altered subcellular organelles were also found. Furthermore, few processes contained concentric arrays of paired membranes. This report is the first to clearly show the neuronal differentiation of extracranial metastases of poorly differentiated medulloblastoma. We speculate that metastases of medulloblastomas outside the neuraxis behave analogously to medulloblastoma explants cultured in vivo.