Brief Report

Mediastinal seminoma: A case report with special emphasis on sall4 as a new immunocytochemical marker

  1. Nozomi Iwamoto C.T., I.A.C.†,
  2. Mitsuaki Ishida M.D., Ph.D.‡,§,*,
  3. Keiko Yoshida C.T., I.A.C.,
  4. Akiko Kagotani C.T., I.A.C.,
  5. Muneo Iwai C.T., C.M.I.A.C.,
  6. Hidetoshi Okabe M.D., Ph.D.

Article first published online: 1 FEB 2012

DOI: 10.1002/dc.22826

Additional Information

How to Cite

Iwamoto, N., Ishida, M., Yoshida, K., Kagotani, A., Iwai, M. and Okabe, H. (2012), Mediastinal seminoma: A case report with special emphasis on sall4 as a new immunocytochemical marker. Diagn. Cytopathol.. doi: 10.1002/dc.22826

Author Information

  1. Division of Diagnostic Pathology, Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Shiga University of Medical Science, Shiga, Japan

  1. †

    These two authors contributed equally to this work.

  2. ‡

    Tel.: +81-77-548-2603

  3. §

    Fax: +81-77-548-2407

*Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine and Division of Diagnostic Pathology, Shiga University of Medical Science, Tsukinowa-cho, Seta, Otsu, 520-2192, Japan

Publication History

  1. Article first published online: 1 FEB 2012
  2. Manuscript Accepted: 19 NOV 2011
  3. Manuscript Revised: 13 NOV 2011
  4. Manuscript Received: 3 JUL 2011

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Keywords:

  • seminoma;
  • mediastinum;
  • SALL4;
  • immunocytochemistry

Abstract

Cytological diagnosis is a valuable method for detection of mediastinal tumors, and recent reports have shown the usefulness of fine-needle aspiration cytology for diagnosis of mediastinal tumors, including germ cell tumors. We report a case of mediastinal seminoma diagnosed intraoperatively by cytological examination of cystic fluid containing tumor cells.

An anterior mediastinal tumor with cystic component was incidentally found in a 28-year-old Japanese male. Cytological examination of the cystic fluid at the time of tumor resection showed single and loose aggregates of large round to polygonal cells with large round nuclei, vesicular chromatin and nucleoli, and mild to moderate amounts of PAS-positive cytoplasm admixed with mature lymphocytes. A diagnosis of seminoma was made intraoperatively. On subsequent immunostaining, the tumor cells showed nuclear positivity for SALL4, a recently recognized germ cell marker that, in the appropriate setting, can be helpful to distinguish germ cell tumors from other mediastinal neoplasms, such as malignant lymphoma, thymoma, and thymic carcinoma. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2012; © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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