Mediastinum
Thymic neuroendocrine tumor
Neuroendocrine carcinoma
Author: Hanni Gulwani, M.B.B.S.
Last author update: 1 December 2012
Last staff update: 16 August 2022
Copyright: 2003-2025, PathologyOutlines.com, Inc.
PubMed Search: Neuroendocrine carcinoma mediastinum
Table of Contents
Definition / general | Terminology | Clinical features | Case reports | Microscopic (histologic) description | Microscopic (histologic) images | Positive stains | Negative stains | Electron microscopy descriptionCite this page: Gulwani H. Neuroendocrine carcinoma. PathologyOutlines.com website. https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/mediastinumneuroendocrinecarcinoma.html. Accessed April 1st, 2025.
Definition / general
- Similar to neuroendocrine carcinomas at other sites
- Aggressive neoplasms capable of local recurrence and distant metastasis (Ann Pathol 2005;25:205)
Terminology
- Atypical carcinoids are considered moderately differentiated neuroendocrine carcinomas
- Undifferentiated or poorly differentiated neuroendocrine carcinomas may be small cell carcinoma
Clinical features
- Rarely causes Cushing syndrome (Indian J Pathol Microbiol 2010;53:148)
- Primary thymic neuroendocrine carcinomas need to be distinguished from ectopic parathyroid tumors and paragangliomas (Semin Diagn Pathol 2005;22:223)
Case reports
- 47 year old man neuroendocrine carcinoma of posterior mediastinum (Arch Pathol Lab Med 1999;123:933)
- 63 year old woman with atypical carcinoid and neurofibromatosis type 1 (Arch Pathol Lab Med 2000;124:319)
Microscopic (histologic) description
- Larger cells with more cytoplasm than small cell carcinoma, organoid growth pattern, spindle cell foci
- May have prominent angiomatoid features (Hum Pathol 1999;30:635)
Microscopic (histologic) images
Images hosted on other servers:
Nests, ribbons and festoons
Various stains
Positive stains
Negative stains
Electron microscopy description
- Desmosomes, neurosecretory granules
