Int. J. Dev. Biol. 57: 153 - 157 (2013)

https://doi.org/10.1387/ijdb.130141jo

Vol 57, Issue 2-3-4

Special Issue: Male Germ Cells in Development & Tumors

Patient with two secondary somatic-type malignancies in a late recurrence of a testicular non-seminoma: illustration of potential and flaw of the cancer stem cell therapy concept

Published: 30 May 2013

J.Wolter Oosterhuis*^,1,#, Suzanne H.P. Peeters^2,#, Vincent T.H.B.M. Smit³, Hans Stoop¹, Leendert H.J. Looijenga¹, Henk W. Elzevier², Suzanne Osanto⁴

¹Department of Pathology, Erasmus University Medical Center, Daniel den Hoed Cancer Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, ²Department of Urology, ³Department of Pathology and ⁴Department of Clinical Oncology, Leiden University Medical Center, The Netherlands

Abstract

Here, we report the case of a patient with a non-seminoma of the left testicle, with an intestinal-type adenocarcinoma and a low grade leiomyosarcoma in a late recurrence 19 years after initial diagnosis. The history of the patient, alive with disease 21 years after initial treatment, illustrates the potential and flaw of the cancer stem cell therapy concept. In addition, it is proposed that residual mature teratoma can be regarded as normalization of cancer due to embryonic patterning, and the development of a secondary somatic-type malignancy as failure of normalization.

Keywords

case report, residual mature teratora, secondary non-germ cell malignancy, cisplatin, chemotherapy