Ovarian germ cell tumors

Ovarian germ cell tumors (OGCT) are a special type of ovarian cancers due to their histology, age of presentation, prognosis and treatment. Material and Methods. Eighteen cases of OGCT out of 313 total ovarian cancer diagnosed in Hospital Materno-Infantil Vall d'Hebredn between 1975 and 1994 are present. Results: Mean age of the patients was 36 years. The most frequent symptom at diagnosis was abdominal bloating (44.5%). Echography was the most used diagnostic method (67%). Surgery was conservative in 44% of the cases, radical in 50% of the cases and palliative in one case. The histological types were 6 dysgerminomas and 6 malignant teratomas (33.3%), 3 malignant dermoid cysts (16.7%), 2 yolk sac tumors (11%) and 1 embryonal carcinoma. According to FIGO 1987 staging classification 14 patients were in stage I disease and 4 in stage III disease. Polychemotherapy was performed on 6 patients and postsurgical radiotherapy was performed on 2 patients. Five patients recurred in an average time of 25 months. The five-year survival rate, according to the Kaplan-Meier method, was 80% in stage I and 0% in stage III. Five-year survival rate of patients only surgically treated was 65% and in patients who underwent postsurgical co-adjuvant treatment it was 100%. Conclusion: Conservative surgery followed by a BEP regimen may be performed nowadays with efficacy and acceptable toxicity while conserving the fertility of these patients.