Cellular components of early testicular cancer.

Different types of tumor cells can be described by means of the semithin section method, immunocytochemistry and transmission electron microscopy. They are situated intratubularly in the basal and adluminal compartment of the germinal epithelium, in the interstitium, and in the solid seminoma. Also teratoma cells can be identified within the seminiferous tubules. Their occurrence together with tumor cells, rich in glycogen (Tc 1), in the same area of a seminiferous tubule, supports the suggestion that seminomata and teratomata originate from the same tumor cell type. Macrophages may be an essential constituent of the early forms of testicular tumors. They are able to invade seminiferous tubules, there to lyse tumor cells and to phagocytose them in fragments. The different participation of the particular cell systems in a testicular tumor is decisive for its organization and presentation.