Effects of amine precursor administration on the morphological findings of transplanted argyrophil cell adenocarcinoma of the endometrium.

Argyrophil cell adenocarcinoma of the endometrium has been kept serially in nude mice. Histological appearances of the tumor were not much changed by transplantations. Argyrophil granules were located mainly in the apical portion of glandular tumor cells in the transplanted tumors as in the original one. However, the cells with argyrophil granules in the entire cytoplasm were made conspicuous after the administration of L-DOPA. These results may suggest the existence of latent APUD cells in the argyrophil cell adenocarcinoma of the endometrium which are activated by the treatment of amine-precursor.