Year: 2010
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Current classification systems of human germ cell tumors (GCTs) are \nbased on histological composition. In the group of nonseminomas, different \nvariants of teratoma (somatic differentiation), yolk sac tumor and choriocarcinoma \n(extra-embryonic differentiation), are recognized, as well as their stem cell \ncomponent embryonal carcinoma. In addition, the seminomatous tumors are \ndistinguished, subdivided into classic - and spermatocytic variants. The \nmorphologically similar classic seminomas of the ovary are called dysgerminomas, \nand those of the brain germinomas. Tumors containing both a (classic) seminoma \nand a nonseminoma component are referred to as combined tumor according to \nthe British classification , and as nonseminoma in the World Health Organisation \n(WHO) Classification. This traditional histological description obscures the \nbiological diversity of this type of cancer, which hampers identification of \npathogenetic mechanisms and proper comparison of the neoplastic cells to their \nnormal counterparts. Therefore, an alternative classification was proposed, \nrecognizing five categories (I-V) of GCTs (see Table 1), based on site of \npresentation, age of the patient at diagnosis, histological composition, as well as \npattern of genomic imprinting, and chromosomal constitution. This thesis will \ndeal only with the type II GCTs, predominantly of the testis, and therefore the other \ntypes will not be discussed here. The testicular type II GCTs will be referred as \nTGCTs.
Author: Katharina Biermann
Language: English
Subfield: Surgery
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1704613042