MicroRNAs as Biomarkers for Germ Cell Tumors.

Two clusters of microRNAs have been discovered highly expressed by seminoma and nonseminoma germ cell tumors. They are secreted in blood of patients with testicular germ cell tumors and can be extracted from the serum or plasma and quantified by real-time-polymerase chain reaction. Results have confirmed the feasibility of the technique and demonstrated that sensitivity and specificity of those microRNAs in detecting viable germ cell tumors are higher than with current methods. If operation characteristics are confirmed in larger studies, those microRNAs will be valuable to manage equivocal clinical scenarios characterized by high uncertainty and high risk of over-treatment or under-treatment.

The Urologic clinics of North America. 2019 May 29 [Epub]

Lucia Nappi, Craig Nichols

Department of Medicine, Medical Oncology Division, BC Cancer Agency, University of British Columbia, 600 West 10th Avenue, Vancouver, British Columbia V5Z 4E6, Canada; Department of Urologic Sciences, Vancouver Prostate Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada., Testicular Cancer Commons, Vancouver, WA, USA; SWOG Group Chairs Office, 2611 Southwest 3rd Avenue MQ280, Portland, OR 97201, USA. Electronic address: .