Neuron-specific enolase as a serum marker for immature teratoma and dysgerminoma

Neuron-specific enolase (NSE) was measured with an enzyme-immunoassay in sera from 54 patients with malignant (24 cases) and benign (30 cases) germ cell tumors of ovarian origin. Serum NSE contents were clearly raised above control value (greater than 10 ng/mg) in 4 of 8 patients with immature teratomas and 5 of 6 with dysgerminomas. NSE was also measured in nine cell lines of germ cell tumors. Among these cell lines, high NSE contents were detected in the cell extracts and culture supernatants from PA-1 and Tera-II lines. In immunohistochemical study, widespread positive staining for NSE was shown in dysgerminomas, whereas the immunostaining was confined to neural elements in both an immature teratoma and xenograft tumors derived from PA-1 and Tera-II lines in nude mice. These findings suggest that serum NSE measurements are of diagnostic value not only for immature teratomas but also for dysgerminomas.