Mediastinal and Central Nervous System Germ Cell Tumors

A special issue of Cancers (ISSN 2072-6694). This special issue belongs to the section "Cancer Therapy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2021) | Viewed by 5293

Special Issue Editors

Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, Viale Golgi 2, 27100 Pavia Italy
Interests: mediastinal tumors; germ cell tumors; high-dose chemotherapy
1. Medical Oncology, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, 27100 Pavia, Italy
2. Department of Internal Medicine and Medical Therapy, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Interests: medical oncology; immunotherapy; nutrition in oncology; malnutrition; clinical trials; nutritional support
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Department of Medical Oncology, Istituto Scientifico Romagnolo per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori (IRST) IRCCS, Via Piero Maroncelli 40, 47014 Meldola, Italy
Interests: prostate cancer; genitourinary cancer; ovarian cancer

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues, 

The Special Issue is on mediastinal and central nervous system germ cell tumors. These are very rare diseases which are related to testicular germ cell tumors in terms of histology, cytogenetic abnormalities, and marker production.

Nevertheless, these diseases have unique characteristics in terms of origin (which is still debated today), prognosis, and, for some aspects, therapeutic strategies. As they are rare germ cell tumors (around 1–2% of all germ cell cancers) we think that an educational comprehensive review on the topic may be helpful. We also would like to share with you the most important results from major institutions along with clinical, pathologic, biologic features. Compared to testicular counterpart, we are still lacking good results obtained in these diseases. Much work is ahead of us.

This Special Issue will contain updated information regarding these peculiar diseases. These are rare tumors close to the testicular counterpart, but with some specific aspects, that is to say, severe prognosis, unknown origin, and particular therapeutic aspects. We will try to summarize the best available knowledge in this field. Contributions from different major institutions with be reported, together with new drugs and clinical aspects.

Dr. Giovanni Rosti
Prof. Dr. Paolo Pedrazzoli
Dr. Ugo De Giorgi
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Cancers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

mediastinal tumors

central nervous system tumors

germ cell cancers

chemotherapy

high-dose chemotherapy

tumor markers

Published Papers (2 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Jump to: Review

10 pages, 1095 KiB  
Article
Roles of Tumor Markers in Central Nervous System Germ Cell Tumors Revisited with Histopathology-Proven Cases in a Large International Cohort
by Hirokazu Takami, Christopher S. Graffeo, Avital Perry, Caterina Giannini, Yoichi Nakazato, Nobuhito Saito, Masao Matsutani, Ryo Nishikawa, Koichi Ichimura and David J. Daniels
Cancers 2022, 14(4), 979; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers14040979 - 15 Feb 2022
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2190
Abstract
The central nervous system germ cell tumor (CNS GCT) is a rare and incompletely understood disease. A major outstanding question in the 2015 consensus document for CNS GCT management was the utility and interpretation of the tumor markers human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) and [...] Read more.
The central nervous system germ cell tumor (CNS GCT) is a rare and incompletely understood disease. A major outstanding question in the 2015 consensus document for CNS GCT management was the utility and interpretation of the tumor markers human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) and alpha fetoprotein (AFP) in the diagnosis of malignant non-germinomatous GCTs (hereafter NGGCTs) prior to treatment. In the current study, we assembled two geographically and ethnically different clinical cohorts from the Mayo Clinic (1988–2017) and the intracranial GCT Genome Analysis Consortium (iGCT Consortium) in Japan to address this question. Patients with both histopathological diagnosis and tumor markers available were eligible for inclusion (n = 162). Biopsy and surgical resection were performed in 85 and 77 cases, respectively. Among 77 resections, 35 demonstrated positivity for HCG, AFP, or both (45%). Seventeen of the marker-positive cases had no malignant non-germinomatous component identified on histopathology, but they were composed strictly of germinoma, teratoma, or both (49%). One embryonal carcinoma was the only marker-negative NGGCT in the study sample. Among 85 biopsies, 18 were marker positive (21%). Seven of these patients had no malignant non-germinomatous component on histopathology, suggesting the potential limitations of limited tissue sample volumes. Neither histopathological diagnosis nor tumor markers alone reliably diagnose NGGCTs due to the secretion of HCG and AFP by germinomas and teratomas. Treatment planning should incorporate integrated histopathological and laboratory-based diagnosis to optimize diagnostic and treatment strategies for this unusual and histologically heterogeneous tumor. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mediastinal and Central Nervous System Germ Cell Tumors)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Review

Jump to: Research

13 pages, 767 KiB  
Review
Primary Mediastinal and Testicular Germ Cell Tumors in Adolescents and Adults: A Comparison of Genomic Alterations and Clinical Implications
by Milena Urbini, Giuseppe Schepisi, Sara Bleve, Alessandra Virga, Caterina Gianni, Giorgia Gurioli, Paola Ulivi and Ugo De Giorgi
Cancers 2021, 13(20), 5223; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers13205223 - 18 Oct 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2434
Abstract
Mediastinal germ cell tumors (MGCTs) share histologic, molecular and biomarkers features with testicular GCTs; however, nonseminomatous MGCTs are usually more aggressive and have poorer prognosis than nonseminomatous TGCTs. Most nonseminomatous MGCT cases show early resistance to platinum-based therapies and seldom have been associated [...] Read more.
Mediastinal germ cell tumors (MGCTs) share histologic, molecular and biomarkers features with testicular GCTs; however, nonseminomatous MGCTs are usually more aggressive and have poorer prognosis than nonseminomatous TGCTs. Most nonseminomatous MGCT cases show early resistance to platinum-based therapies and seldom have been associated with the onset of one or more concomitant somatic malignancies, in particular myeloid neoplasms with recent findings supporting a common, shared genetic precursor with the primary MGCT. Genomic, transcriptomic and epigenetic features of testicular GCTs have been extensively studied, allowing for the understanding of GCT development and transformation of seminomatous and nonseminomatous histologies. However, MGCTs are still lacking proper multi-omics analysis and only few data are reported in the literature. Understanding of the mechanism involved in the development, in the progression and in their higher resistance to common therapies is still poorly understood. With this review, we aim to collect all molecular findings reported in this rare disease, resuming the similarities and disparities with the gonadal counterparts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mediastinal and Central Nervous System Germ Cell Tumors)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop