Surprisingly, expression of germ cell marker DDX4 suggests that spermatogenesis is retained in premalignant testis tissues adjacent to nonseminoma, but not those adjacent to seminoma.
We detected VASA mRNA (by quantitative RT-PCR) and protein (by immunohistochemical staining) in normal spermatogenesis, seminoma (both classic and spermatocytic), carcinoma in situ (the precursor of classic seminoma and nonseminoma), dysgerminoma, and gonadoblastoma.