2nd Department of Surgery-Pediatric Surgery and Orthopedics, "Grigore T. Popa" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 700115 Iași, Romania.
Department of Mother and Child, "Grigore T. Popa" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 700115 Iași, Romania.
Int J Mol Sci. 2024 Jun 19;25(12):6752. doi: 10.3390/ijms25126752.
Pediatric ovarian tumors exhibit unique diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. This study evaluates the expression of SALL4 and OCT3/4 biomarkers in pediatric ovarian tumors and their associations with tumor subtype, stage, and clinical outcome. A retrospective analysis was conducted on 64 patients under 18 years old, examining demographic data, tumor characteristics, immunohistochemical staining, and clinical outcomes. Our results show that SALL4 was significantly expressed in adenocarcinoma, dysgerminoma (DSG), mixed germ cell tumors (GCTs), and immature teratoma, while OCT3/4 was highly expressed in DSG and mixed GCTs. Both markers are associated with a higher tumor grade and stage, indicating a more aggressive disease. The SALL4 positivity expression was correlated with high alpha fetoprotein (AFP) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels, while OCT3/4 positivity significantly predicted the risk of subsequent metastasis. The mean progression-free survival (PFS) was notably shorter in patients with positive markers. These findings underscore the diagnostic and prognostic value of SALL4 and OCT3/4 in pediatric ovarian tumors, aligning with previous research and supporting their use in clinical practice for better disease management and patient outcomes.
小儿卵巢肿瘤具有独特的诊断和治疗挑战。本研究评估了 SALL4 和 OCT3/4 生物标志物在小儿卵巢肿瘤中的表达及其与肿瘤亚型、分期和临床结局的关系。对 64 名 18 岁以下的患者进行了回顾性分析，检查了人口统计学数据、肿瘤特征、免疫组织化学染色和临床结果。我们的结果表明，SALL4 在腺癌、生殖细胞瘤（DSG）、混合生殖细胞瘤（GCT）和未成熟畸胎瘤中显著表达，而 OCT3/4 在 DSG 和混合 GCT 中高表达。这两种标志物都与更高的肿瘤分级和分期相关，表明疾病更具侵袭性。SALL4 阳性表达与高甲胎蛋白（AFP）和乳酸脱氢酶（LDH）水平相关，而 OCT3/4 阳性显著预测了随后转移的风险。阳性标志物患者的无进展生存期（PFS）明显缩短。这些发现强调了 SALL4 和 OCT3/4 在小儿卵巢肿瘤中的诊断和预后价值，与之前的研究一致，并支持在临床实践中使用它们，以更好地管理疾病和改善患者结局。
