Abstract
An epidermoid type of thymoma from an asymptomatic 39-year-old male subject is described. Electron microscopy demonstrated endocrine type secretory granules within the tumour cells, and a minority of these granules resembled normal human pancreatic alpha cell granules. Fine structural evidence for endocrine secretory activity in a primary thymic tumour has not been previously described.
There are few fine structural reports of primary thymic tumours in man and to our knowledge these do not include certain features of the case described here.
Full text
PDFImages in this article
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- COUPLAND R. E. (ELECTRON MICROSCOPIC OBSERVATIONS ON THE STRUCTURE OF THE RAT ADRENAL MEDULLA. I. THE ULTRASTRUCTURE AND ORGANIZATION OF CHROMAFFIN CELLS IN THE NORMAL ADRENAL MEDULLA.) J Anat. 1965 Apr;99:231–254. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Like A. A. The ultrastructure of the secretory cells of the islets of Langerhans in man. Lab Invest. 1967 Jun;16(6):937–951. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- THOMSON A. D., THACKRAY A. C. The histology of tumours of the thymus. Br J Cancer. 1957 Sep;11(3):348–358. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1957.42. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]