Dysgerminomas
Other Germ Cell Tumors
Current Clinical Trials

Dysgerminomas

Standard treatment options:

• Cisplatin-based chemotherapy has been used effectively for patients with recurrent dysgerminoma with and without adjuvant radiation therapy.[1]

Standard treatment options:

• Patients with recurrent germ cell tumors of the ovary other than pure dysgerminoma should be treated with chemotherapy, the type of which is determined by previous treatment.[2] Radiation therapy is not effective in this setting. Cisplatin-based combination chemotherapy is effective.[1,3,4] Patients who do not respond to a cisplatin-based combination may still attain a durable remission with VAC or ifosfamide/cisplatin as salvage therapy.[1] Newer potential treatments include an ifosfamide combination [5] or high-dose chemotherapy and autologous marrow rescue.[6-8] Although the role of secondary cytoreductive surgery for patients with recurrent or progressive ovarian germ cell tumors remains controversial, it may have some benefit for a select group of patients, particularly those with immature teratoma.[9] After maximal effort for surgical cytoreduction, chemotherapy should be considered.

Treatment options under clinical evaluation:

• Patients with recurrent germ cell tumors of the ovary (including pure dysgerminoma) are candidates for clinical trials. Some consideration should be given to the use of high-dose regimens with rescue (GOG-90).

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's PDQ Cancer Clinical Trials Registry that are now accepting patients with recurrent ovarian germ cell tumor. The list of clinical trials can be further narrowed by location, drug, intervention, and other criteria.

General information about clinical trials is also available from the NCI Web site.

References

1. Williams SD, Blessing JA, Moore DH, et al.: Cisplatin, vinblastine, and bleomycin in advanced and recurrent ovarian germ-cell tumors. A trial of the Gynecologic Oncology Group. Ann Intern Med 111 (1): 22-7, 1989.  [PUBMED Abstract]
   
   
2. Williams SD, Blessing JA, Hatch KD, et al.: Chemotherapy of advanced dysgerminoma: trials of the Gynecologic Oncology Group. J Clin Oncol 9 (11): 1950-5, 1991.  [PUBMED Abstract]
   
   
3. Williams SD, Birch R, Einhorn LH, et al.: Treatment of disseminated germ-cell tumors with cisplatin, bleomycin, and either vinblastine or etoposide. N Engl J Med 316 (23): 1435-40, 1987.  [PUBMED Abstract]
   
   
4. Taylor MH, Depetrillo AD, Turner AR: Vinblastine, bleomycin, and cisplatin in malignant germ cell tumors of the ovary. Cancer 56 (6): 1341-9, 1985.  [PUBMED Abstract]
   
   
5. Munshi NC, Loehrer PJ, Roth BJ, et al.: Vinblastine, ifosfamide and cisplatin (VeIP) as second line chemotherapy in metastatic germ cell tumors (GCT). [Abstract] Proceedings of the American Society of Clinical Oncology 9: A-520, 134, 1990. 
   
   
6. Broun ER, Nichols CR, Kneebone P, et al.: Long-term outcome of patients with relapsed and refractory germ cell tumors treated with high-dose chemotherapy and autologous bone marrow rescue. Ann Intern Med 117 (2): 124-8, 1992.  [PUBMED Abstract]
   
   
7. Motzer RJ, Bosl GJ: High-dose chemotherapy for resistant germ cell tumors: recent advances and future directions. J Natl Cancer Inst 84 (22): 1703-9, 1992.  [PUBMED Abstract]
   
   
8. Mandanas RA, Saez RA, Epstein RB, et al.: Long-term results of autologous marrow transplantation for relapsed or refractory male or female germ cell tumors. Bone Marrow Transplant 21 (6): 569-76, 1998.  [PUBMED Abstract]
   
   
9. Munkarah A, Gershenson DM, Levenback C, et al.: Salvage surgery for chemorefractory ovarian germ cell tumors. Gynecol Oncol 55 (2): 217-23, 1994.  [PUBMED Abstract]
   
   

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