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The incidence of yolk sac tumor (endodermal sinus tumor) elements in germ cell tumors of the testis in adults
Author(s) -
Talerman A.
Publication year - 1975
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0142(197507)36:1<211::aid-cncr2820360122>3.0.co;2-w
Subject(s) - endodermal sinus tumor , yolk sac , medicine , germ cell tumors , germ cell , pathology , incidence (geometry) , anatomy , embryo , biology , chemotherapy , microbiology and biotechnology , biochemistry , gene , physics , optics
The incidence of yolk sac tumor (endodermal sinus tumor) elements was studied in 147 germ cell neoplasms of the testis in adults observed over a 4 1/2‐year period. Excluding 79 cases of pure seminoma, yolk sac tumor elements were found in 26 (38%) of 68 tumors; in 8 tumors the yolk sac tumor was the predominant element. Yolk sac tumor elements were found admixed with all other germ cell tumor elements. Tumors composed entirely of yolk sac tumor were not encountered. Fifteen (57%) of the 26 patients with tumors containing yolk sac tumor elements have died of their disease during the period under study, compared with 13 (31%) of the remaining 42 patients, suggesting that the prognosis of adults with testicular tumors containing yolk sac tumor elements is unfavorable. This is in contrast to the relatively good prognosis of infants and young children with testicular yolk sac tumor, and similar to the prognosis of female patients with ovarian yolk sac tumor. The results of the present study give further support to the view that yolk sac tumor (endodermal sinus tumor) is not a distinctive neoplasm of the infant's testis, but a germ cell neoplasm differentiating in the direction of yolk sac or vitelline structures, and occurring in the testis, ovary, and extragonadal sites in common with other germ cell neoplasms.