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Biology of Germ Cell Tumors

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Book cover Pediatric Germ Cell Tumors

Part of the book series: Pediatric Oncology ((PEDIATRICO,volume 1))

Abstract

During the last decade key insights into the molecular basis of germ cell tumors (GCTs) have been elucidated. GCTs are believed to arise from primordial germ cells, which present similarities to embryonic stem cells in expression of pluripotency markers such as SALL4, LIN28 and EPCAM. The analysis of methylation, genomic imprinting, genomic aberrations and mRNA profiles clearly segregates pediatric from adult GCTs, while microRNA analysis revealed that overexpression of the oncogenic microRNA clusters miR-371~373 and miR-302 is common to both age groups. Furthermore, gene expression studies present distinct differences between the two commonest pediatric malignant histologic subtypes, namely germinomas and yolk sac tumors, with, for example, activation of the Wnt and BMP signaling pathway in the latter.

This chapter summarizes the current state of research on GCTs arising in childhood and adulthood, identifying candidate biomarkers for diagnosis and follow-up and targets for the development of novel therapeutic agents for refractory or relapsed disease.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Matthew Jonathan Murray

  2. Department of Paediatric Haematology and Oncology, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK

    Matthew Jonathan Murray

  3. Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, University of Bonn, University Children’s Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany

    Stefan Schönberger MD

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Correspondence to Matthew Jonathan Murray .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    A. Lindsay Frazier

  2. Dept. of Pediatrics, MolecularBiology an, UT Southewestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA

    James F. Amatruda

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Murray, M.J., Schönberger, S. (2014). Biology of Germ Cell Tumors. In: Frazier, A., Amatruda, J. (eds) Pediatric Germ Cell Tumors. Pediatric Oncology, vol 1. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-38971-9_1

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