Germinoma pathophysiology
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Histology
The term germinoma most often has referred to a tumor in the brain that has a histology identical to two other tumors: dysgerminoma in the ovary and seminoma in the testis.[1] Increasingly, the term refers to any tumor with this histology, regardless of where it occurs in the body.
MeSH defines germinoma as "a malignant neoplasm of the germinal tissue of the gonads; mediastinum; or pineal region"[2] and within its scope includes both dysgerminoma and seminoma. Collectively, these are the seminomatous or germinomatous tumors.
The tumor is uniform in appearance, consisting of large, round cells with vesicular nuclei and clear or finely granular cytoplasm that is eosinophilic.
On gross examination, the external surface is smooth and bosselated (knobby), and the interior is soft, fleshy and either cream-coloured, gray, pink or tan. Microscopic examination typically reveals uniform cells that resemble primordial germ cells. Typically, the stroma contains lymphocytes and about 20% of patients have sarcoid-like granulomas.
References
- ↑ "Pathology". Retrieved 2007-11-03.
- ↑ Germinoma at the US National Library of Medicine Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)