Genomic Landscape of Pediatric Germ Cell Tumors

Germ cell tumors (GCTs) are cancers of the testis, ovary and extragonadal sites that occur in infants, children, adolescents, and adults. Post-pubertal (type II) malignant GCTs may present as a seminoma, non-seminoma or with mixed histologies. In contrast, pre-pubertal (type I) GCTs are limited to (benign) teratomas and (malignant) yolk sac tumors (YST). Epidemiologic and molecular data have shown that pre- and post-pubertal GCTs arise by distinct mechanisms. Dedicated studies of the genomic landscape of type I and II GCTs in children and adolescents are lacking. Here we present an integrated genomic analysis of extracranial GCTs across the age spectrum from 0-24 years.]]>
All specimens were obtained from patients with appropriate consent from the local Institutional Review Board in accordance with the protocol of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA; Children's Oncology Group; Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; the Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, Netherlands; and the Hospital Sant Joan de Deu, Barcelona, Spain. All samples were de-identified at the source.]]>