Neuron-specific enolase and neurofilament protein as markers of differentiation in medulloblastoma.

Immunocytochemical localization of neuron-specific enolase was performed attempting evaluation for neuronal cell differentiation in medulloblastoma. Twenty-seven cases of human medulloblastomas were stained with anti-neuron-specific enolase and antineurofilament protein serum using the peroxidase-antiperoxidase technique. All medulloblastomas showed neuron-specific enolase immunoreaction but only few had neurofilament protein-positive cells. These results suggest that a practically universal tendency towards neuronal cell differentiation occurs in medulloblastomas and that synthesis of neuron-specific enolase takes place before sufficient amounts of neurofilament protein are produced to become immunocytochemically detectable.