Pathogenesis of Testicular Germ Cell Tumors from a Developmental Point of View

Current classification systems of human germ cell tumors (GCTs) are based on histological composition. In the group of nonseminomas, different variants of teratoma (somatic differentiation), yolk sac tumor and choriocarcinoma (extra-embryonic differentiation), are recognized, as well as their stem cell component embryonal carcinoma. In addition, the seminomatous tumors are distinguished, subdivided into classic - and spermatocytic variants. The morphologically similar classic seminomas of the ovary are called dysgerminomas, and those of the brain germinomas. Tumors containing both a (classic) seminoma and a nonseminoma component are referred to as combined tumor according to the British classification , and as nonseminoma in the World Health Organisation (WHO) Classification. This traditional histological description obscures the biological diversity of this type of cancer, which hampers identification of pathogenetic mechanisms and proper comparison of the neoplastic cells to their normal counterparts. Therefore, an alternative classification was proposed, recognizing five categories (I-V) of GCTs (see Table 1), based on site of presentation, age of the patient at diagnosis, histological composition, as well as pattern of genomic imprinting, and chromosomal constitution. This thesis will deal only with the type II GCTs, predominantly of the testis, and therefore the other types will not be discussed here. The testicular type II GCTs will be referred as TGCTs

mTOR is a promising therapeutical target in a subpopulation of pancreatic adenocarcinoma

AbstractPancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains a highly lethal disease, unusually resistant against therapy. It is generally felt that stratification of patients for personalized medicine is the way forward. Here, we report that a subpopulation of PDACs shows strong activation of the mTOR signaling cassette. Moreover, we show that inhibition of mTOR in pancreatic cancer cell lines showing high levels of mTOR signaling is associated with cancer cell death. Finally, we show using fine needle biopsies the existence of a subpopulation of PDAC patients with high activation of the mTOR signaling cassette and provide evidence that inhibition of mTOR might be clinically useful for this group. Thus, our results define an unrecognized subpopulation of PDACs, characterized by high activation of mTOR and show that identification of this specific patient group in the early phase of diagnosis is feasible

Use of immunohistochemical biomarkers as independent predictor of neoplastic progression in Barrett's oesophagus surveillance

__Introduction:__ The low incidence of oesophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) in Barrett's oesophagus (BE) patients reinforces the need for risk stratification tools to make BE surveillance more effective. Therefore, we have undertaken a systematic revi

Flucht, Asyl, Hoffnung

Bürgerkriege, politische Krisen, Verfolgung und andere existenzbedrohende Nöte zwingen viele Tausend Menschen zur Flucht. Mit der Zunahme von Krieg, Terror, desolaten und gefährlichen Lebensbedingungen wie in Syrien, Irak, Afghanistan und Eritrea oder Diskriminierung, Ausgrenzung und Perspektivlosigkeit wie in Kosovo und Albanien nimmt auch die Zahl derer zu, die ihr Heimatland verlassen. Die Zeiten, in denen wir diese Tatsachen einfach ausblenden und uns ungestört dem Alltagsgeschehen zuwenden können, sind vorbei – Asylsuchende und Flüchtlinge sind mittlerweile Bestandteil unseres Lebens geworden. Die Menschen sind hier in Deutschland angekommen

MTOR is a promising therapeutical target in a subpopulation of pancreatic adenocarcinoma

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains a highly lethal disease, unusually resistant against therapy. It is generally felt that stratification of patients for personalized medicine is the way forward. Here, we report that a subpopulation of PDACs shows strong activation of the mTOR signaling cassette. Moreover, we show that inhibition of mTOR in pancreatic cancer cell lines showing high levels of mTOR signaling is associated with cancer cell death. Finally, we show using fine needle biopsies the existence of a subpopulation of PDAC patients with high activation of the mTOR signaling cassette and provide evidence that inhibition of mTOR might be clinically useful for this group. Thus, our results define an unrecognized subpopulation of PDACs, characterized by high activation of mTOR and show that identification of this specific patient group in the early phase of diagnosis is feasible