A stroll through the present and future of testicular germ cell tumour biomarkers.

Testicular germ cell tumors (TGCT) are the most commonly diagnosed cancers amongst young men. Although these tumors usually have a good prognosis and are highly treatable, clinicians and pathologists still face specific dilemmas inherent to this tumor model, which is highly due to its developmental origin.

A wide-ranging review of the currently available and future prospects in the field of TGCT biomarkers is presented.

TGCT biomarkers' field has been widely studied in the last decade. Although these patients usually present with good prognosis, there are still specific clinical questions where novel biomarkers are needed to complement the ones already used in the clinic. These questions include the follow-up method of clinical stage-I patients, detection of minimal residual disease, proper identification of teratoma and suitable selection of patients to chemotherapy, according to their inherent resistance.

Expert review of molecular diagnostics. 2023 Apr 23 [Epub ahead of print]

Nuno Tiago Tavares, Rui Henrique, Aditya Bagrodia, Carmen Jerónimo, João Lobo

Cancer Biology and Epigenetics Group, Research Center of IPO Porto (CI-IPOP)/RISE@CI-IPOP (Health Research Network), Portuguese Oncology Institute of Porto (IPO Porto)/Porto Comprehensive Cancer Centre Raquel Seruca (Porto.CCC), Rua Dr. António Bernardino de Almeida, Porto, Portugal., Department of Urology, University of California - San Diego Health, San Diego, CA, USA.