Radioimmunoassay of alpha-fetoprotein in children with primary intracranial tumors.

Abstract

Serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) was measured in 10 cases of primary brain tumors in children (4 cases of medulloblastoma, 4 cases of germ cell tumor and 2 cases of astrocytoma). As a result, elevation in AFP was observed only in a case of embryonal carcinoma that showed partial mixture of germinoma. The absence of AFP elevation in 3 other cases of pure germinoma (atypical teratoma; pinealoma) agrees with reports which describe that, in the germ cell tumor of the gonads, a rise in AFP is not observed in pure seminoma but is found in embryonal carcinoma and endodermal sinus tumor (yolk sac tumor). The fluctuations in AFP in serum and cerebrospinal fluid are considered to be of significance in the diagnosis and treatment of primary intracranial malignant germ cell tumors.