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Li L, Hu Y, Li X, Ju B. A comprehensive analysis of the KLRB1 expression and its clinical implication in testicular germ cell tumors: A review. Medicine (Baltimore) 2024; 103:e37688. [PMID: 38608099 PMCID: PMC11018193 DOI: 10.1097/md.0000000000037688] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2024] [Accepted: 03/01/2024] [Indexed: 04/14/2024] Open
Abstract
Testicular germ cell tumors (TGCT) are the most common testicular malignancies. KLRB1 is considered to influence the development and progression of a number of cancers. However, it is unclear how the KLRB1 gene functions in TGCT. First, it was determined the expression level of KLRB1 in TGCT using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) (The Cancer Genome Atlas) dataset and GTEx (Genotype-Tissue Expression) dataset. The clinical significance and biological functions of KLRB1 were explored using the TCGA dataset, and we analyzed the correlation of the KLRB1 gene with tumor immunity and infiltrating immune cells using gene set variation analysis and the TIMER database. We found that the expression level of KLRB1 was upregulated in TGCT malignant tissues with the corresponding normal tissues as controls, and KLRB1 expression correlated with clinicopathologic features of TGCT. Functional enrichment analysis suggested that KLRB1 might be involved in immune response and inflammatory response. KLRB1 was highly positively correlated with natural killer cell activation in immune response and positively correlated with tumor-infiltrating immune cells. This study demonstrated for the first time the role of KLRB1 in TGCT, which may serve as a new biomarker associated with immune infiltration and provide a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of TGCT.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luyu Li
- The First Clinical School of Medicine Henan University of Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou, Henan 450000, China
| | - Yaorui Hu
- Department of Neurobiology, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong 250012, China
- Institute of Neurobiology, Health and Rehabilitation Sciences of University, Qingdao, Shandong 266000, China
| | - Xiao Li
- Department of Andrology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou, Henan 450000, China
| | - Baojun Ju
- Department of Andrology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou, Henan 450000, China
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Stang A, McMaster ML, Sesterhenn IA, Rapley E, Huddart R, Heimdal K, McGlynn KA, Oosterhuis JW, Greene MH. Histological Features of Sporadic and Familial Testicular Germ Cell Tumors Compared and Analysis of Age-Related Changes of Histology. Cancers (Basel) 2021; 13:cancers13071652. [PMID: 33916078 PMCID: PMC8037944 DOI: 10.3390/cancers13071652] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2021] [Revised: 03/18/2021] [Accepted: 03/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary Testicular germ cell tumors (TGCT) are highly heritable, and earlier studies reported a higher prevalence of certain microscopic features in familial cases compared with sporadic cases. Reasoning by analogy relative to different causal genes for different histologic subtypes of familial kidney cancer, we searched for etiologically informative histopathology associations in familial testicular germ cell cancer. We conducted a detailed, blinded pathology review of familial and sporadic TGCT cases to investigate whether we could identify differences between these two patient subsets and to study the effect of age at diagnosis on histologic features in both groups combined. Our results show no specific histologic differences between familial and sporadic TGCTs. However, we observed histologic features that varied with age at diagnosis among the two groups combined. Thus, our results suggest that there are no histological differences between familial and sporadic TGCT that might identify genetically distinct disease subsets. Abstract This study aimed to compare histological features of familial and sporadic testicular germ cell tumors (TGCTs) and surrounding parenchyma, since discriminating features might be etiologically relevant and clinically useful. The study of parenchyma was prompted by reports claiming a higher prevalence of testicular microlithiasis in familial cases. Histological features of TGCTs and surrounding parenchyma of 296 sporadic and 305 familial cases were compared. For each case, one representative hematoxylin and eosin-stained slide was available. Slides were independently scored by two expert pathologists using a semi-quantitative data abstract. Discrepancies were resolved by consensus. A logistic regression model was used to assess the ability to discriminate between sporadic and familial GCT. The histological composition of a tumor, amount of lymphocytic infiltration, amount of germ cell neoplasia in situ (GCNIS), and presence of testicular microlithiasis (TM) did not discriminate between sporadic and familial GCT (area under the curve 0.56, 95%CI 0.51–0.61). Novel observations included increasing lymphocytic infiltration and decreasing GCNIS and TM with increasing age at diagnosis. The presence of tubules with infiltrating lymphocytes was mainly associated with pure seminomas and nonseminomas with a seminoma component. Among seminomas, tubules with infiltrating lymphocytes decreased with increasing age. No discernable differences between sporadic and familial TGCTs were found. The age-related changes in the tumors and surrounding parenchyma in these groups combined are consistent with a host response building up over time predominantly affecting seminomas, the seminoma-component of nonseminomas and GCNIS. TM may gradually dissolve with age. Our hypothesis that histological differences between sporadic and familial TGCT might identify genetically distinct disease subsets was not supported.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreas Stang
- Institut für Medizinische Informatik, Biometrie und Epidemiologie, Universitätsklinikum Essen, 45147 Essen, Germany;
- School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology, Boston University, Boston, MA 02118, USA
| | - Mary L. McMaster
- Clinical Genetics Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, MD 20850, USA;
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +1-240-276-7248
| | | | - Elizabeth Rapley
- Division of Genetics and Epidemiology, Institute for Cancer Research, London SM7 1DN, UK;
| | - Robert Huddart
- Division of Radiotherapy and Imaging, Institute for Cancer Research, London SM7 1DN, UK;
| | - Ketil Heimdal
- Department of Medical Genetics, Oslo University Hospital Rikshospitalet, 0027 Oslo, Norway;
| | - Katherine A. McGlynn
- Metabolic Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, MD 20850, USA;
| | - Jan Wolter Oosterhuis
- Department of Pathology, Josephine Nefkens Institute, Erasmus University Medical Center, 3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands;
| | - Mark H. Greene
- Clinical Genetics Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, MD 20850, USA;
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