Ovarian Cancer Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Ovarian Cancer, including details on symptoms, causes, treatment, information.

Improvement in the outcome of children with germ cell tumors.

Lopes LF, Sonaglio V, Ribeiro KC, Schneider DT, de Camargo B

Department of Pediatrics-Centro de Tratamento e Pesquisa Hospital do Cancer, A.C. Camargo, Sao Paulo, Brazil. lf.lopes@yahoo.com

PURPOSE: To describe the clinical characteristics and estimate the survival of children and adolescents with germ cell tumors treated with cisplatin-based combination chemotherapy according to three different protocols in Brazil. METHODS: From 1983 to 1997, 106 patients were treated at the Hospital do Cancer, Sao Paulo for a diagnosis of germ cell tumor. We performed a retrospective review of the clinical and histopathological data to identify prognostic factors and evaluate their outcome. RESULTS: Patients were treated with only surgery (n = 32), surgery and radiotherapy (n = 1) and chemotherapy (n = 73). From 1983 to 1986 (period I), there were 30 patients and 21 received chemotherapy according to the modified VAB-6 protocol. Twenty-two of 35 patients registered between 1987 and 1991 (period II) were treated with EPO/VAC combination chemotherapy. From 1991 to 1997 (period III), there were 41 patients and 31 received chemotherapy according to the Brazilian TCG-91 protocol. Important prognostic factors included stage (P < 0.001), metastatic status (P < 0.001) and surgical procedure at diagnosis (P < 0.001). An incremental improvement in outcomes was noted across the periods of treatment (P = 0.070). Five-year OS was respectively 42.9 +/- 10.8%, 53.9 +/- 11.4% and 80.6 +/- 7.1% for periods I, II, and III for the patients who received chemotherapy. CONCLUSION: An improvement in the survival of children with germ cell tumors was achieved in the most recent trial (TCG-91) with a risk adapted approach incorporating only cisplatin and etoposide. These results indicate that in selected patients complex three-agent regimens may not be necessary to achieve long term survival.

Published 12 December 2007 in Pediatr Blood Cancer, 50(2): 250-3.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

© 2004-2008 Ovarian Cancer Research Today. All Rights Reserved.