Abstract
Testicular germ cell tumors (TGCTs) are the leading form of solid cancer and death affecting males between the ages of 20 and 40. Today, their surgical resection and chemotherapy are the treatments of first choice, even if sometimes this is not enough to save the lives of patients with TGCT. As seen for several tumors, the deregulation of microRNAs (miRNAs) is also a key feature in TGCTs. miRNAs are small molecules of RNA with biological activity that are released into biological fluids by testicular cancer cells. Their presence, therefore, can be detected and monitored by considering miRNAs as diagnostic and prognostic markers for TGCTs. The purpose of this review is to collect all the studies executed on miRNAs that have a potential role as biomarkers for testicular tumors.
Highlights
One of the most recurrent tumors in adolescent and young adults with the highest incidence between the ages of 20 and 40 years is testicular cancer [1,2]
Once patients tolerate risk-adapted chemotherapy, high cure rates can be achieved in aged patients with metastatic testicular germ cell tumors (TGCTs), as well as in younger patients [10,11]
We have shown that HMGA1 is expressed in spermatogonia and primary spermatocytes, whereas HMGA2 is expressed in secondary spermatocytes and spermatids [23]
Summary
One of the most recurrent tumors in adolescent and young adults with the highest incidence between the ages of 20 and 40 years is testicular cancer [1,2]. PATZ1 tumor suppressor activity has been found to be impaired in TGCT because of its delocalization into the cytoplasm of cancer cells This delocalization is likely due to the downregulation of the estrogen receptor β, a PATZ1-interacting molecular partner. It has been shown that PATZ1 interacts with ERβ in normal germ cells, while the downregulation of ERβ associates with PATZ1 and HMGA1 cytoplasmic delocalization in seminomas [27,28] These data suggest a crucial role for PATZ1 in normal male gametogenesis, whereas its overexpression and delocalization could be connected to the promotion of TGCTs. Oestrogens are key hormones playing roles in testis physiology. Ongoing studies are trying to use GPR30 as a biomarker for human seminoma, as well as to design novel therapies to halt TGCT development by targeting this receptor [32,33]
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