title: Epidermal growth factor receptor is a marker for syncytiotrophoblastic cells in testicular germ cell tumors.
abstract: The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) has been implicated in the pathogenesis, therapy and prognosis of various tumor types. The aim of this study was to investigate EGFR expression in a large series of testicular germ cell tumors (TGCTs). A total of 88 TGCTs (37 of pure type and 51 of mixed type) comprising a total of 44 seminoma, 49 embryonal carcinoma, 32 yolk sac tumor, 28 teratoma and 7 choriocarcinoma components were immunostained for EGFR. EGFR reactivity was observed in the stromal cells of embryonal carcinoma (29%) and in epithelial compartments of teratoma (71%). In addition, EGFR staining was consistently detected in syncytiotrophoblastic cells of choriocarcinoma, seminoma, embryonal carcinoma and yolk sac tumor components. EGFR staining, similar to beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) immunohistochemistry, was efficiently able to identify syncytiotrophoblastic cells in TGCTs. This study shows that EGFR is expressed in a subset of testicular germ cell tumors and suggests that EGFR may be a useful marker for syncytiotrophoblastic cells.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Pathology, Department of Pathology, University Hospital, Schmelzbergstrasse 12, 8091, Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Lukas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hechelhammer
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Störkel
authors.forename: Bernhard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Odermatt
authors.forename: Philipp U
authors.initials: PU
authors.lastname: Heitz
authors.forename: Wolfram
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jochum
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism; D066246:ErbB Receptors / Q000378:metabolism*; D018237:Germinoma / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D013736:Testicular Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D014327:Trophoblasts / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D066246:ErbB Receptors