Biomaterial Database

Unusual thymic seminomas. 1986

B F Burns, and W T McCaughey

Although most thymic seminomas have a histologic appearance similar to those arising in the testis, some seminomas undergo pronounced secondary changes that may obscure the diagnosis. We found three cases that showed a combination of reactive follicular hyperplasia (three cases), large cysts (three cases), epithelioid granulomas (two cases), and fibrosis (two cases), to such a degree that the seminoma component was indistinct. Immunoperoxidase staining for keratin in one case highlighted the intimate association of the positively staining thymic epithelial cells with the nonstaining seminoma cells. The seminoma cells in this case were reactive with placental alkaline phosphatase. No other group of thymic or mediastinal tumors, including those of Hodgkin's disease, exhibited this combination of secondary reactive changes to a similar degree. Because of the favorable prognosis of thymic seminomas, these variants should not be confused with other mediastinal tumors.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008297	Male		Males
D008875	Middle Aged	An adult aged 45 - 64 years.	Middle Age
D004407	Dysgerminoma	A malignant ovarian neoplasm, thought to be derived from primordial germ cells of the sexually undifferentiated embryonic gonad. It is the counterpart of the classical seminoma of the testis, to which it is both grossly and histologically identical. Dysgerminomas comprise 16% of all germ cell tumors but are rare before the age of 10, although nearly 50% occur before the age of 20. They are generally considered of low-grade malignancy but may spread if the tumor extends through its capsule and involves lymph nodes or blood vessels. (Dorland, 27th ed; DeVita Jr et al., Cancer: Principles & Practice of Oncology, 3d ed, p1646)	Disgerminoma,Disgerminomas,Dysgerminomas
D006651	Histocytochemistry	Study of intracellular distribution of chemicals, reaction sites, enzymes, etc., by means of staining reactions, radioactive isotope uptake, selective metal distribution in electron microscopy, or other methods.	Cytochemistry
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000293	Adolescent	A person 13 to 18 years of age.	Adolescence,Youth,Adolescents,Adolescents, Female,Adolescents, Male,Teenagers,Teens,Adolescent, Female,Adolescent, Male,Female Adolescent,Female Adolescents,Male Adolescent,Male Adolescents,Teen,Teenager,Youths
D000328	Adult	A person having attained full growth or maturity. Adults are of 19 through 44 years of age. For a person between 19 and 24 years of age, YOUNG ADULT is available.	Adults
D013953	Thymus Neoplasms	Tumors or cancer of the THYMUS GLAND.	Cancer of Thymus,Thymus Cancer,Thymus Tumors,Cancer of the Thymus,Neoplasms, Thymic,Neoplasms, Thymus,Thymic Cancer,Thymic Neoplasms,Thymic Tumors,Cancer, Thymic,Cancer, Thymus,Cancers, Thymic,Cancers, Thymus,Neoplasm, Thymic,Neoplasm, Thymus,Thymic Cancers,Thymic Neoplasm,Thymic Tumor,Thymus Cancers,Thymus Neoplasm,Thymus Tumor,Tumor, Thymic,Tumor, Thymus,Tumors, Thymic,Tumors, Thymus