Dysgerminoma in mother and daughter: use of lactate dehydrogenase as a tumor marker in the child

Diabetes insipidus and increased serum levels of leptin and lactate-dehydrogenase (LDH) in an adolescent boy with a primary intracranial germinoma. Case report and an endocrinological revaluation of literature

A 16-year-old boy presented with a four-month history of polyuria-polydipsia and a diplopia which had reverted after treatment. The neuroimaging studies performed had been strongly suggestive of an optic nerve glioma, while endocrinological investigation (beta-hCG 420 IU/L) has lead to the correct diagnosis later confirmed at the immunohystochemical analysis performed at biopsy. The high serum level of hCG was unaffected by bromocriptine nor octreotide, while the PRL level (80.0 microg/L) was reduced only by bromocriptine. Among the several tumor markers which may be secreted by such lesions, ours is the first reported case of an elevation of serum LDH for a primary intracranial germinoma. Moreover, the elevated value of serum leptin reported by us might be due to the insensitivity of the hypothalamic structures to endogenous leptin.

Familial ovarian germ cell cancer: report and review

Ovarian germ cell cancers are rare malignancies accounting for less than 5% of all ovarian cancers. We present a family in which three closely related women were diagnosed with ovarian germ cell malignancies. This family's cancer history prompted a family history investigation of women treated for ovarian germ cell malignancies in the Gynecologic-Oncology Clinic at the University of Wisconsin. One of the eight patients whose family histories were reviewed had an uncle who had been diagnosed with testicular germ cell cancer. A review found six other previously reported families in which more than one relative had been diagnosed with a malignant ovarian germ cell tumor. Additionally, several cases of families with both males and females diagnosed with germ cell cancers have been documented. The low incidence of ovarian germ cell cancers suggests that multiple occurrences in the same family may not be due to chance. Rather, it is possible that a gene conferring susceptibility to ovarian germ cell cancers, and possibly to germ cell tumors in males as well, is present in at least some of these families.