Health Dictionary Find a Doctor

Seminoma pathophysiology

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Sujit Routray, M.D. [2]

Overview

Overview

On gross pathology, seminoma is characterized by pale gray to yellow nodules that are uniform or slightly lobulated and often bulge from the cut surface.On microscopic pathology, seminoma is characterized by the cells with fried egg appearance with clear cytoplasm and central nucleus with prominent nucleolus, with interspersed lymphocytes and syncytiotrophoblasts. Approximately 24% of Stage I seminomas have lymphovascular invasion for stage I (Tx, N0, M0). Intertubular seminoma may not form a discrete mass and mimic a benign testis. Seminoma is demonstrated by positivity to tumor markers, such as OCT4, CD117, D2-40, and CD117.

Gross Pathology

Gross Pathology

On gross pathology, seminoma is characterized by pale gray to yellow nodules that are uniform or slightly lobulated and often bulge from the cut surface.[1]

Microscopic Pathology

Microscopic Pathology

  • On microscopic pathology, seminoma is characterized by:[2]
  • Cells with fried egg appearance – key feature
  • Clear cytoplasm
  • Central nucleus, with prominent nucleolus. Nucleus may have “corners”, i.e. it is not round.
  • Large, irregular, vesicular nuclei
  • Eosinophilic vacuolated cytoplasm (contains hCG)
  • Florid granulomatous reaction
  • Approximately 24% of Stage I seminomas have lymphovascular invasion for stage I (Tx, N0, M0).[2]
  • Intertubular seminoma may not form a discrete mass and mimic a benign testis.[2]
Immunohistochemistry

Immunohistochemistry

Seminoma is demonstrated by positivity to tumor markers, such as:[3]

References

References

  1. Pathology of testicular seminoma. Dr Marcin Czarniecki and Dr Andrew Dixon et al. Radiipaedia 2016. http://radiopaedia.org/articles/testicular-seminoma-1. Accessed on February 29, 2016
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Microscopic pathology of seminoma. Libre pathology 2016. http://librepathology.org/wiki/Seminoma. Accessed on March 3, 2016
  3. IHC for seminoma. Libre pathology 2016. http://librepathology.org/wiki/Seminoma. Accessed on March 3, 2016

Template:WH Template:WS

Looking for the patient version?

Back to the patient-friendly article

© 2026 MyEClinic – IFTM Institut für Telematik in der Medizin GmbH