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SALL4 is a useful marker for pediatric yolk sac tumors

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Abstract

Background

SALL4 is a zinc finger transcription factor that exerts its physiological role during embryo-fetal development. Analyses of SALL4 expression have shown its oncogenic role in precursor B-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma, acute and chronic myeloid leukemia, gastrointestinal, breast, and lung cancers. The aim of this study was to determine the immunohistochemical profile of SALL4 in pediatric yolk sac tumors (YSTs).

Methods and results

Immunohistochemistry detection of SALL4 was performed in 22 cases of pediatric YSTs and 10 mature teratomas. The percentage of tumor cells stained was scored as 0, 1+ (1–30% cells), 2+ (31–60%), 3+ (61–90%), and 4+ (> 90%). To compare its sensitivity and specificity with Glypican-3 and α-fetoprotein (AFP), we also stained tumors from these cases for Glypican-3 and AFP. In contrast to AFP and glypican-3, SALL4 staining in more than 90% of the tumor cells was seen in all 22 pediatric YSTs (100% sensitivity) (P < 0.001 for both SALL4 vs. AFP and SALL4 vs. glypican-3).

Conclusions

SALL4 is a sensitive marker for pediatric YSTs and it can be used to distinguish them from mature teratomas. SALL4 is likely to become a new and valuable biomarker for the diagnosis of pediatric YST.

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Acknowledgements

The manuscript had been proofread by Professor Xin-He Lai. School of Biology & Food Science, Shangqiu Normal University, Shangqiu, Henan Province, China.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatric Surgery, Northwest Women and Children’s Hospital, Xi’an, China

    Peng Wu, Ruogu Luo, Baiping Sun, Jingru Zhao & Quan Xu

  2. Department of Pediatric Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China

    Xiaoming Chen

  3. Department of Pediatric Surgery, Hangzhou Children’s Hospital, No. 195 Wenhui Rd, Xiacheng District, Hangzhou, China

    Shaoguang Feng & Chen Wang

Authors
  1. Peng Wu
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  2. Ruogu Luo
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  3. Baiping Sun
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  4. Jingru Zhao
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  5. Quan Xu
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  6. Shaoguang Feng
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  7. Xiaoming Chen
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  8. Chen Wang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Chen Wang.

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Ethical statement

This study was conducted in accordance with the guidelines of the human ethics committee at our institute.

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Wu, P., Luo, R., Sun, B. et al. SALL4 is a useful marker for pediatric yolk sac tumors. Pediatr Surg Int 36, 727–734 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00383-020-04652-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00383-020-04652-w

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