Evaluation of cyclin expression in testicular germ cell tumors: Cyclin E correlates with tumor type, advanced clinical stage, and pulmonary metastasis

The measurement of proliferative index has yielded promising yet conflicting results in the evaluation of testicular tumors. We have examined the role of Ki-67, along with the cyclins A and E in testicular tumorigenesis. We compared the immunoreactivity of 20 pure seminomas with 20 mixed germ cell tumors composed predominantly of embryonal carcinoma with a variety of proliferation markers, including Ki-67, cyclin A, and cyclin E. All 40 tumors stained for Ki-67, and 19 of 20 (95%) seminomas and 18 of 20 (90%) embryonal carcinomas stained positively for cyclin A. Cyclin E stained 14 of 19 (74%) of the embryonal carcinomas and only 4 of 20 (20%) of the seminomas (Fisher's exact two-tailed test, P = .0012). There was a trend toward larger tumor size for cyclin E-positive seminomas (median, 5.92 cm versus 3.96 cm; P = .08), although the same correlation was not significant in embryonal carcinomas. For both seminomas and embryonal carcinomas, staining with cyclin E did not correlate with the presence of lymphovascular invasion or capsular invasion. However, patients who had cyclin E-positive tumors presented with higher clinical stage (P = .0015). In addition, pulmonary spread in embryonal carcinomas (four patients) and seminomas tone patient) occurred only in patients whose tumors were cyclin E positive (P = .014). Although Ki-67 and cyclin A offer little prognostic information in testicular germ cell tumors, cyclin E immunoreactivity correlates with tumor type and is strongly predictive of distant tumor spread.