Pineal Germinoma.
Summary of "Pineal Germinoma."
Germinomas are gonadal neoplasms that rarely occur extragonadally in the midline structures of the human body. Newly diagnosed adult cases of pineal gland germinomas are very rare since most of the cases are diagnosed in the mid teens. The estimated incidence of this tumor in western countries is between 0.4-3.4%. Typically, this tumor is diagnosed by its characteristic radiological appearance alone, supported by tumor marker(s) or by stereotactic biopsy of the tumor. We are reporting a very unique case of pineal germinoma diagnosed in an adult at our institute by cerebrospinal fluid cytology with literature review. We analyzed case reports, literature reviews, and therapy and diagnostic articles about pineal germinoma in the English literature from 1983 to 2009 through the national library of medicine, Pubmed, and OVID search engines. We used key words "pineal germinoma," "pineal gland tumor," "CNS germinoma," and "extragonodal germinomas" to search for our articles.
Affiliation
From the Department of Internal Medicine, The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK.
Journal Details
This article was published in the following journal.
Name: Southern medical journal
ISSN: 1541-8243
Pages:
Links
- PubMed Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20818311
- DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/SMJ.0b013e3181ebeeff
Medical and Biotech [MESH] Definitions
Pinealoma
Neoplasms which originate from pineal parenchymal cells that tend to enlarge the gland and be locally invasive. The two major forms are pineocytoma and the more malignant pineoblastoma. Pineocytomas have moderate cellularity and tend to form rosette patterns. Pineoblastomas are highly cellular tumors containing small, poorly differentiated cells. These tumors occasionally seed the neuroaxis or cause obstructive HYDROCEPHALUS or Parinaud's syndrome. GERMINOMA; CARCINOMA, EMBRYONAL; GLIOMA; and other neoplasms may arise in the pineal region with germinoma being the most common pineal region tumor. (From DeVita et al., Cancer: Principles and Practice of Oncology, 5th ed, p2064; Adams et al., Principles of Neurology, 6th ed, p670)
Germinoma
A malignant neoplasm of the germinal tissue of the GONADS; MEDIASTINUM; or pineal region. Germinomas are uniform in appearance, consisting of large, round cells with vesicular nuclei and clear or finely granular eosinophilic-staining cytoplasm. (Stedman, 265th ed; from DeVita Jr et al., Cancer: Principles & Practice of Oncology, 3d ed, pp1642-3)
Pineal Gland
A light-sensitive neuroendocrine organ attached to the roof of the THIRD VENTRICLE of the brain. The pineal gland secretes MELATONIN, other biogenic amines, and neuropeptides.
Testicular Neoplasms
Tumors or cancer of the TESTIS. Germ cell tumors (GERMINOMA) of the testis constitute 95% of all testicular neoplasms.
Habenula
A small protuberance at the dorsal, posterior corner of the wall of the third ventricle, adjacent to the dorsal thalamus and pineal body. It contains the habenular nuclei and is a major part of the epithalamus. (From Lockard, Desk Reference for Neuroscience, 2nd ed, p121)
PubMed Articles
Intracranial germinoma: clinical and MRI findings in 56 patients.
INTRODUCTION: Intracranial germinoma is a rare malignant tumor, only constituting 0.5-2.0% of all primary intracranial tumors. It usually occurs in children and young adults, it is highly sensitive to...
Since its introduction in the neurosurgical field, neuroendoscopy has played an important role in the treatment of pineal germ cell tumors. The authors report a case of pineal germinoma revealing spon...
Germinoma with malignant transformation to nongerminomatous germ cell tumor.
The authors describe the case of a young girl with suprasellar germinoma. Six weeks after this diagnosis, just prior to initiation of therapy, serum and CSF marker analysis revealed sudden and marked...
Circadian regulation of pineal gland rhythmicity.
The pineal gland is a neuroendocrine organ of the brain. Its main task is to synthesize and secrete melatonin, a nocturnal hormone with diverse physiological functions. This review will focus on the c...
We report a 19-year-old patient with systemic-onset juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) who developed a mediastinal germinoma during treatment with infliximab. Although the cancer risk of infliximab i...
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