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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2018 Sep 26.
Published in final edited form as: Med Res Arch. 2018 Mar 15;6(3):1719. doi: 10.18103/mra.v6i3.1719

Table 2.

Major diagnostic tools for primary CNS GCT

Germ Cell Tumors (GCT) Serum/CSF tumor markers Immunohistochemical
tumor markers
Imaging Studies
Germinomas HCG, PLAP PLAP, c-kit and OCT3/4
CT brain, MRI brain, MRI spine
Non-germinomatous GCT
teratomas
mature - -
immature HCG, AFP -
embryonal carcinomas - CD30 and CK AE1/3
choriocarcinomas HCG HCG
yolk sac tumors AFP AFP
Germ Cell Tumors (GCT) Serum/CSF tumor markers Immunohistochemical tumor markers Imaging Studies
Germinomas HCG, PLAP PLAP, c-kit and OCT3/4
CT brain, MRI brain, MRI spine
Non-germinomatous GCT
teratomas
mature - -
immature HCG, AFP -
embryonal carcinomas - CD30 and CK AE1/3
choriocarcinomas HCG HCG
yolk sac tumors AFP AFP

HCG=human chorionic gonadotrophic hormone, PLAP=placental alkaline phosphatase, AFP= alpha-fetoprotein