Germ cell tumours in neonates and infants: a distinct subgroup?

Human germ cell tumours (GCTs) constitute a heterogeneous group of tumours that can be classified into four major subgroups. One of these subgroups encompasses (immature) teratomas and yolk sac tumours of patients under the age of 5 years. In this paper we review the various clinical, histological and cytogenetical aspects of these infantile GCTs. The primordial germ cell (PGC) has been suggested to be the cell of origin for GCTs. Infantile GCTs, however, have been suggested to originate from PGCs at a different stage of maturation than adult GCTs. The cytogenetic constitution of infantile GCTs also appears to differ from the adult GCTs and includes recurrent losses of lp and 6q. Recently, two cases of infantile GCT were detected with constitutional 12q13 translocations. These exceptional cases may be instrumental in the search for candidate genes related to infantile and/or adult GCT development.