Antioxidant enzyme profile and lipid peroxidation products in semen samples of testicular germ cell tumor patients submitted to orchiectomy

ABSTRACT Purpose To determine enzymatic antioxidant and lipid peroxidation levels in seminal plasma of patients orchiectomized for testicular tumors. Materials and Methods The study included 52 patients: 26 control men and 26 orchiectomized patients for testicular tumor, of which 12 men had seminoma tumor and 14 men non-seminoma tumor. After semen analysis performed according to the WHO guidelines, an aliquot of semen was centrifuged and the seminal plasma was collected. Lipid peroxidation was performed by thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) assay and antioxidant profile was assessed by analyzing catalase, glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and superoxide anion (SOD) activities using colorimetric assays with a standard spectrophotometer. Data were tested for normality and compared using one-way ANOVA (p<0.05). Results Seminoma and non-seminoma groups presented lower sperm concentration and morphology when compared to control group (p=0.0001). Both study groups (seminoma and non-seminoma) presented higher TBARS levels when compared to control group (p=0.0000013). No differences were observed for SOD (p=0.646) andGPx (p=0.328). It was not possible to access the enzymatic activity of catalase in any group. Conclusion Patients with testicular tumor present increased semen oxidative stress, but no differences were observed in antioxidant levels, even after orchiectomy. This indicates that most likely an increased generation of oxidative products takes place in these patients.

Human testis-expressed sequence 101 is limitedly distributed in germinal epithelium of testis and disappears in seminoma

BACKGROUND: Testis-expressed sequence 101 (TEX101) was found to be highly expressed in testis and involved in acrosome reaction in previous studies. Recently, the metastasis suppressor function of TEX101 in cancer was disclosed, but the comprehensive investigation of its expression has rarely been reported. In this study, the expression features of TEX101 in normal human organs and seminoma were systematically analyzed. RESULTS: Immunohistochemistry demonstrated intense staining of TEX101 in human testis tissues; however, its expression in 27 other types of normal human organs, including the ovary, was negligible. Higher expression of TEX101 was observed in the spermatocytes and spermatids of the testis, but relatively lower staining was detected in spermatogonia. Western blotting showed a single TEX101 band of 38 kDa in human testis, but it did not correspond to the predicted molecular weight of its mature form at 21 KDa. Furthermore, we examined seminoma tissues by immunohistochemistry and found that none of the 36 samples expressed TEX101. CONCLUSIONS: Our data confirmed TEX101 to be a testis protein that could be related to the maturation process of male germ cells. The lack of TEX101 in seminoma indicated its potential role in tumor progression. This characteristic expression of TEX101 could provide a valuable reference for understanding its biological functions.

Immature teratoma with choriocarcinoma-like lesion of testis: case report of an unusual presentation.

An eighteen year old male presented with hemoptysis and superior vena caval syndrome. History and clinical examination revealed a testicular mass which was previously diagnosed as hematocele. Chest x-ray showed a four cm diameter shadow and several smaller shadows. Histological examination of the testicular mass established it as immature teratoma with choriocarcinoma-like lesion (CCLL)--a rare association in testicular tumours. Focal positivity for betaHCG was noted in the testicular tumour. Guided aspiration of the lung showed features of a metastatic non seminomatous germ cell tumour.

Outcome of patients with stage II and III nonseminomatous germ cell tumors: results of a single center.

BACKGROUND: The prognostic factors in nonseminomatous germ cell tumors have been mainly derived from the analysis of stage I tumors. AIMS: The aim of this study was to evaluate some prognostic factors and the outcome of patients with stage II and III nonseminomatous germ cell tumors according to risk groups treated between 1993 and 2002. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: Patients were retrospectively classified as good, intermediate and poor risk groups according to International Germ Cell Cancer Consensus Group. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Biopsy specimens of 58 patients with stage II and III nonseminomatous germ cell tumors were analyzed by means of tumor histopathology, primary localization site of the tumor, relapse sites, initial serum tumor marker levels, the presence of persistent serum tumor marker elevation and the patients' outcome. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Kruskall Wallis test and Mann-Whitney U test were used to determine the differences between the groups. Kaplan-Meier method was used for survival analysis and log rank test was used to compare the survival probabilities of groups. Cox proportional hazard analysis was used to determine the prognostic factors in univariate and multivariate analysis. RESULTS: Five-year overall and disease-free survival rates were calculated as 85% and 75% in stage II; 44% and 29% in stage III cases, respectively. Fifty-seven percent of patients were classified in good risk, 9% in intermediate risk and 27% in poor risk groups. Five-year overall survival rates were 97%, 75% and 7% (P<0.001) and disease-free survival rates were 83%, 34% and 7% (P<0.001) in good, intermediate and poor risk groups, respectively. Analysis of the prognostic factors revealed that the localization site of the primary tumor (P<0.001), the initial beta-HCG level (p:0.0048), the presence of yolk sac and choriocarcinoma components in tumor (p:0.003 and p:0.004), relapse sites of tumor (lung versus other than lung) (p:0.003), persistent elevation of serum tumor markers (P<0.001) were significant prognostic factors in univariate analysis. However, in multivariate analysis, only the localization site of tumor (p:0.049) and the relapse site (p:0.003) were found statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: This retrospective study revealed that in advanced stage of nonseminomatous germ cell tumors, the outcome is essentially related with the localization site of the tumor and the relapse site.

Primary carcinoid tumor of the testis: immunohistochemical, ultrastructural and DNA flow cytometric study of two cases

Primary testicular carcinoid tumor, occupying 0.23% of testicular neoplasm, is a rare and indolent neoplasm with the potential for distant metastasis. We present two cases of primary pure carcinoid tumor of the testis. Both patients were 36 years old. Physical examination revealed testicular mass with and without tenderness. The preoperative serum levels of beta-human chorionic gonadotropin and alpha-fetoprotein were normal and neither patient had carcinoid syndrome. The tumors measured 7.5x6x4 cm and 5.5x5x4 cm in size. Histologically, immunohistochemically and ultrastructurally, the tumors showed typical features of the carcinoid tumor. Case 1 showed extensive tumor necrosis and vascular invasion. DNA flow cytometric analysis showed aneuploidy with DNA index of 1.47 and S+G2M of 14.0% in case 1 and tetraploidy with DNA index of 1.96 and S+G2M of 22.1% in case 2. Both patients have been well without any signs of metastasis after operation for 24 months in case 1 and for 16 months in case 2.

Alpha-fetoprotein in germ cell tumors. An immunohistochemical study.

Total 40 cases of testicular and ovarian germ cell tumors and one case of extragonadal germ cell tumor were studied for the presence of alphafetoprotein (AFP) by indirect immunoperoxidase technique. All seminomas (7 cases) and teratomas (13 cases) were negative for AFP; while 85% of the pure embryonal carcinomas, (E.C.) all pure yolk sac tumors (Y.S.T.) (7 cases) and all embryonal carcinoma and yolk sac components in mixed tumors were AFP positive. Immunostaining of tumor marker appeared to help only in differentiating seminomatous and nonseminomatous tumors and hence does not provide any additional information for classification of these tumors.

Large Mononuclear Cells in Seminoma: An Immunohistochemical Analysis of 21 Cases

Twenty-one cases of seminoma (including testicular seminoma, ovarian dysgerminoma and extragonadal germinoma) were reviewed for the cell types responsible for the production of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG). Histologically the cases included seventeen classical seminomas and 4 anaplastic seminomas. The latter had some mononuclear and multinuclear giant cells. All 4 patients with anaplastic seminoma had elevated levels of serum AFP, and each of these cases contained AFP producing tumor cells identified by immunoperoxidase staining. All seminomas of patients with elevated serum levels of HCG were of the classical type but HCG producing tumor cells could not be identified by immunoperoxidase staining. Immunoreactivity to anti-AFP was found in some large mononuclear cells and anaplastic cells. To explain these results, we propose that the large mononuclear cell is a multipotential cell capable of differentiating into a germ cell, yolk sac and embryo, and that the anaplastic seminoma cells might represent a stage on the continuum of cellular differentiation from the large mononuclear cells to germ cells. The multinuclear giant cell does not appear to be essential for the production of either AFP or HCG in seminoma.