Serotonin receptors in human neuroblastoma: a possible biologic tumor marker.

We used saturation radioligand binding to measure nine types of serotonin receptors in 13 neuroblastomas from children. 5-HT1E and 5-HT3 sites were found in neuroblastomas with receptor density and affinity similar to human or rat brain. No 5-HT1A, 5-HT1B, 5-HT1C, 5-HT1D, 5-HT2, or 5-HT uptake sites were found in any of the tumors, although all were detected in human or rat brain. These data demonstrate that human neuroblastomas possess 5-HT receptors found in human brain and relevant to human myoclonus. We speculate that 5-HT receptors in human neural crest-derived tumors may have clinical and neurobiological significance.