Serum prolactin, gonadotropins, androgens, estrogens, and gestagens in patients with malignant testicular germ cell tumor.

In the serum of five patients with malignant germ cell tumor of the testis, prolactin as well as one or several of the gonadotropic, androgenic, estrogenic, and gestagenic hormones appeared to have the quality of tumor markers so that monitoring their serum level together with that of tissue polypeptide antigen, carcinoembryonic antigen, alpha-fetoprotein, and ferritin was useful. These compounds were determined by radioimmunoassay. Their serum concentration was often elevated although a constant pattern of findings or a relation to the severity of the disease was not observed. A corroboration of these results and an elucidation of their pathogenesis are necessary in a large number of patients.