[Atypical intratubular germ cells and testicular germ cell tumors in children (author's transl)]

Intratubular atypical germ cells are quite frequent in seminiferous tubules of tumor-free tissue adjacent to germ cell tumors of the adult testis. Atypical germ cells are considered by several authors to be totipotent stem cells for different types of germ cell tumors. If this theory is correct, atypical germ cells should be demonrable in the vicinity of germ cell tumors of children as well. We reviewed 30 testicular germ cell tumors of children aged 6 months to 6 1/2 years (17 yolk sac tumors and 13 mature teratomas). In five cases no tumor-free testicular tissue was present. In the remaining 25 cases - 15 patients with yolk sac tumors and 10 patients with mature teratomas - no atypical germ cells, neither intra-nor extratubular in location, could be found. The question arises, therefore, whether these so-called atypical germ cells are really the precursor cells of germ cell tumors or if they represent, at least in some cases, a reactive phenomenon due to the presence of a germ cell tumor.