Urologie pro praxi 4/2018

Role of tumor markers in testicular cancer

Serum tumor markers (onkomarkers) play critical role in diagnosis, staging, risk stratification and prognosis of patients with testicular tumors. They are usefull as an important index to monitor during the therapy and than aids in the early detection of disease recurrence. Common testicular cancer tumor markers are α-fetoprotein (AFP), human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). The limitation of these markers is sensitivity and specificity. There are many others conditions that can cause elevation of these markers. Because of that new markers are finding, the biggest potential have studies based on detection of non-coding RNAs and cell-free circulating DNA.

Keywords: testicular germ cell tumours, tumor markers, α- fetoprotein, human chorionic gonadotrophin, lactate dehydrogenase, non-coding RNAs, cell-free circulating DNA.