title: Nuclear DNA content and proliferative potential of human carcinoma in situ cells in testes of intersex children.
abstract: Gonocytes, fetal germ cells, when persisted beyond infantile period of life are considered as preinvasive testicular germ cell cancer (carcinoma in situ--CIS). The aim of the study was to investigate nuclear DNA content and proliferative potential of CIS cells together with the expression of placental-like alkaline phosphatase (PLAP), a marker of CIS and germ cell cancer. In dysgenetic testes of 4 intersex children proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and PLAP were examined immunohistochemically. DNA content was assessed by densitometry of nucleus in Feulgen stained histologic sections. High incidence of aneuploidy (95.1-97.6% of CIS cells with 2.6-6.8c) was found with the predominant DNA pattern of tri- and tetraploidy in children aged 1 to 3 years. The incidence of triploidy (65-78.1% of cells) was similar to the incidence of the expression of PCNA (53.4-62%), what indicates that part of hyperploid germ cells might represent phase S of cell cycle, but the rest of hyperploid cells might represent neoplastic transformation. In turn, germ cells of 8-months-old patient were predominantly diploid with low incidence of PCNA positive cells which indicate that proliferation/neoplastic transformation of abnormal germ cells is significant mostly after 1 year of age in intersex children. The frequency of PLAP expression in CIS cells (3.1-27% of cells) was weakly related to the frequency of aneuploidy what limits the usefulness of PLAP reaction for the detection of CIS cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Andrology and Reproductive Endocrinology, Institute of Endocrinology, Medical University, Lódź, Poland. andjish@psk2.am.lodz.pl
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Słowikowska-Hilczer
mesh_terms: D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase / Q000378:metabolism; D002278:Carcinoma in Situ / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006059:Gonadal Dysgenesis / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D016612:Paraffin Embedding; D010920:Placenta / Q000201:enzymology; D011379:Prognosis; D018809:Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen / Q000378:metabolism; D013737:Testis / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D014424:Turner Syndrome / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D004273:DNA, Neoplasm; D018809:Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen; D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase