Malignant intracranial germinoma in Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome: cholesterol homeostasis possibly connecting morphogenesis and cancer development

Abstract

Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome is a rare hereditary autosomal recessive disease characterized by deficiency of 7-dehydrocholesterol reductase. Clinical picture encompasses prenatal and postnatal growth abnormalities and multisystemic structural malformations. To date, predisposition for tumor development is not considered a feature associated with this syndrome. Here, we describe a 16-year-old boy with Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome who developed cerebral germinoma. To our knowledge, this is the first report of association of this syndrome with malignant intracranial germ-cell tumor.