Characterization of human seminomas : apoptosis, stem cell factor and mutant RAS affect in vitro behavior

This thesis contains the results of a research project aimed at obtaining cell lines of seminomas, relatively rare human tumors. Seminoma cell lines, thus far lacking, would be important in the study of the pathobiology of human genn cell tumors. Seminomas represent one of the two types of human testicular geml cell tumors of adolescents and adults (TGCTs), the other type being the nonseminomatous TGCTs. Seminoma cells are considered to represent the neoplastic counterpart of primordial geon cells, embryonic cells that give rise to the stem cells of gametogenesis. Nonseminomatous TGCTs are neoplastic caricatures of normal embryonic development. Because of this, TGCTs might be used as a model system to study aspects of human developmental biology.