Prognostic value of OCT4 in primary intracranial germinoma: a single institute analysis of 31 cases

Abstract

OCT4 expresses variably in primary intracranial germinomas. In this study, we tested our hypothesis that such variation of OCT4 is predictive of outcome in primary intracranial germinomas. Thirty-one histologically identified CNS germinoma patients were enrolled in our study. We collected medical data, immunohistochemically evaluated the OCT4 expression level, and followed up all patients from April 2001 to May 2010. We found that 7 of the 31 patients expressed OCT4 weakly, 11 expressed OCT4 moderately, and 13 expressed OCT4 strongly. No significant correlation between the OCT4 expression level and clinicopathological characteristics was observed. WV-CS combined treatment modality showed a better 5-year progression-free survival (PFS) rate than other treatment modalities and a low expression level of OCT4 showed a significantly better 5-year PFS. In both the WV-CS combined treatment modality and other treatments modality group, patients received a better 5-year PFS and had a lower level of OCT4 expression. As a result, we suggest OCT4 as a probable prognostic marker for intracranial germinoma.

Keywords::

• immunohistochemistry
• intracranial germinoma
• OCT4
• prognosis

Acknowledgment

Professor Jingping Liu, Professor Yunsheng Liu, and Professor Zhixiong Liu provided clinical data for the patients in the Department of Neurosurgery of Xiangya Hospital.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this paper. This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (30871246, 81070993), National Basic Research Program of China (2010CB833605), Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University (NCET-10-0790), Key Program of Central South University (QYZD2010006).