Improvement in the outcome of children with germ cell tumors
Abstract
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. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2008;50:250–253. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
