Expression of cellular apoptosis susceptibility (CAS) in the human testis and testicular germ cell tumors

AbstractTesticular germ cell tumors are the most frequent malignancies found in men between 15 and 44  years old. Although cellular apoptosis susceptibility (CAS) was demonstrated to be upregulated in breast cancer and colon cancer, the expression of CAS in the human testis and testicular germ cell tumors remained elusive. In the present study, CAS-positive signals were detected in the normal testi cular tissues, cancer adjacent normal testicular tissues, seminoma, yolk sac tumor, and teratoma. Interestingly, the expression level of CAS in testicular germ cell tumors (TGCTs) (but not seminoma) was significantly lower than that of human testicular tissues and cancer adjacent normal testicular t issues, suggesting that decreased CAS contributed to the progression of TGCTs. Notably, the expression of CAS in seminoma was significantly higher than that of in the non-seminomas, consistent with the results from TCGA database. Furthermore, the localization of CAS is mainly restricted in the nucle us in the lesions of normal human testicular tissue and cancer adjacent normal testicular tissue. Although the expression of CAS was not significantly different between normal testicular tissue and seminoma, CAS was more enriched in cytoplasm in seminoma compared to the normal, cancer adjacent tissu e and other types of TGCTs. The current results demonstrated reduced expression of CAS in the human testicular germ cell tumors and the CAS translocation from the nuclear to cytoplasm in seminom...
Source: Medical Oncology - Category: Cancer & Oncology Source Type: research