title: Human chorionic gonadotropin is expressed virtually in all intracranial germ cell tumors.
abstract: Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) production has been utilized as a diagnostic marker for germinoma with syncytiotrophoblastic giant cells (STGC) and choriocarcinoma. Elevated hCG in germinoma is considered to predict less favorable prognosis, and an intensive treatment strategy may accordingly be applied. However, there is some evidence that any germinoma may produce hCG to varying extent. We investigated mRNA expression of the hCG β subunit (hCGβ) using real time quantitative polymerase chain reaction in 94 germ cell tumors (GCTs). Most (93.3 %) GCTs showed higher expression levels compared with that of normal brain tissue (1.09 × 10(0)-1.40 × 10(5) fold). The expression was the highest in GCTs which harbor choriocarcinoma or STGC components. The expression level of hCGβ in germinoma was highly variable (1.09 × 10(0)-5.88 × 10(4) fold) in linear but not bimodal distribution. hCG concentrations in serum and CSF correlated with gene expression, especially when GCTs with single histological component were analyzed separately. The expression was not significantly associated with recurrence in pure germinoma. These results suggest that the serum/CSF hCG levels may need to be interpreted with caution as most GCTs appear to have the capacity of producing hCG irrespective of their histology. The clinical significance of ubiquitous hCG expression in GCTs needs further investigation.
authors.affiliation: Division of Brain Tumor Translational Research, National Cancer Center Research Institute, 5-1-1, Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, 104-0045, Japan.
authors.forename: Hirokazu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takami
authors.forename: Shintaro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fukushima
authors.forename: Kohei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fukuoka
authors.forename: Tomonari
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Takaaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yanagisawa
authors.forename: Yuko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Matsushita
authors.forename: Taishi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Hideyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Arita
authors.forename: Akitake
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mukasa
authors.forename: Nobuhito
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: Masayuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kanamori
authors.forename: Toshihiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kumabe
authors.forename: Teiji
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tominaga
authors.forename: Keiichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Motoo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nagane
authors.forename: Toshihiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Iuchi
authors.forename: Kaoru
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tamura
authors.forename: Taketoshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Maehara
authors.forename: Kazuhiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sugiyama
authors.forename: Mitsutoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakada
authors.forename: Yonehiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kanemura
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nonaka
authors.forename: Kiyotaka
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yokogami
authors.forename: Hideo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takeshima
authors.forename: Yoshitaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Narita
authors.forename: Soichiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shibui
authors.forename: Yoichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakazato
authors.forename: Ryo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nishikawa
authors.forename: Koichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ichimura
authors.forename: Masao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Matsutani
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin / Q000097:blood; D018997:Chorionic Gonadotropin, beta Subunit, Human / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009373:Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin; D018997:Chorionic Gonadotropin, beta Subunit, Human; D012333:RNA, Messenger