title: Expression of syndecan-4 and correlation with metastatic potential in testicular germ cell tumours.
abstract: Although syndecan-4 is implicated in cancer progression, there is no information for its role in testicular germ cell tumours (TGCTs). Thus, we examined the expression of syndecan-4 in patients with TGCTs and its correlation with the clinicopathological findings. Immunohistochemical staining in 71 tissue specimens and mRNA analysis revealed significant overexpression of syndecan-4 in TGCTs. In seminomas, high percentage of tumour cells exhibited membranous and/or cytoplasmic staining for syndecan-4 in all cases. Stromal staining for syndecan-4 was found in seminomas and it was associated with nodal metastasis (P = 0.04), vascular/lymphatic invasion (P = 0.01), and disease stage (P = 0.04). Reduced tumour cell associated staining for syndecan-4 was observed in nonseminomatous germ cell tumours (NSGCTs) compared to seminomas. This loss of syndecan-4 was associated with nodal metastasis (P = 0.01), vascular/lymphatic invasion (P = 0.01), and disease stage (P = 0.01). Stromal staining for syndecan-4 in NSGCTs did not correlate with any of the clinicopathological variables. The stromal expression of syndecan-4 in TGCTs was correlated with microvessel density (P = 0.03). Our results indicate that syndecan-4 is differentially expressed in seminomas and NSGCTs and might be a useful marker. Stromal staining in seminomas and reduced levels of syndecan-4 in tumour cells in NSGCTs are related to metastatic potential, whereas stromal staining in TGCTs is associated with neovascularization.
authors.affiliation: Hematology Division, Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital of Patras, 26500 Patras, Greece.
authors.forename: Vassiliki T
authors.initials: VT
authors.lastname: Labropoulou
authors.forename: Spyros S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Skandalis
authors.forename: Panagiota
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ravazoula
authors.forename: Petros
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Perimenis
authors.forename: Nikos K
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Karamanos
authors.forename: Haralabos P
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Kalofonos
authors.forename: Achilleas D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Theocharis
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D055806:Microvessels / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009373:Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal / Q000098:blood supply / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013194:Staining and Labeling; D017154:Stromal Cells / Q000473:pathology; D053671:Syndecan-4 / Q000378:metabolism*; D013736:Testicular Neoplasms / Q000098:blood supply / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D053671:Syndecan-4