Immunohistochemical Expression of Placental Alkaline Phosphatase in Five Cases of Seminoma in Rabbits

Testicular seminoma is reported in the rabbit but data about the immunophenotype of these tumours are lacking. The classification of human testicular germ cell tumours includes spermatocytic tumour (ST) originating from the post-pubertal spermatogonia/spermatocytes, which metastasizes rarely, and seminoma (SE), originating from gonocytes, which is malignant and metastasizes frequently. Gonocytes express placental alkaline phosphatase (PLAP) and are stained with periodic acid-Schiff (PAS). We report five cases of seminoma in pet rabbits. Microscopically, all the cases were diffuse seminoma and in one case there was metastasis to a sublumbar lymph node. Immunohistochemical expression of PLAP was diffuse in this metastatic tumour, in two other cases it was multifocal, in another it was limited to rare cells and in the remaining case was negative. PAS-positive cells were detected only in the four cases that expressed PLAP. These four cases were therefore classified as SE and the tumour without PLAP labelling or PAS staining was defined as ST. Both forms of human germ cell tumour therefore occur in the rabbit. SE appears to be well represented and may show metastasis, paralleling the human counterpart. The results of this study provide a basis for further evaluations of the rabbit as a possible animal model for the study of human SE.