Neuronal and astrocytic differentiation in human neuroepithelial neoplasms. An immunohistochemical study.

Neuroepithelial neoplasms of childhood were examined immunohistochemically using antibodies against a neurofilament polypeptide and glial fibrillary acidic protein. Ninety-one cases, including 11 controls, were examined. Positively reacting cells, indicating neuronal and glial differentiation, were found in 59 of the 80 tumors. The study supports a neuroepithelial origin for medulloblastomas, central neuroblastomas, and primitive neuroectodermal tumors of childhood. The results also indicate that only a small number of the tumor cells differentiate along either neuronal or glial cell lines.