Indolent nonseminomatous germ cell tumor of testis. Prolonged survival of patient with persistent metastatic disease.
The complete response rate of disseminated nonseminomatous germ cell tumors (NSGCT) of the testes with current aggressive chemotherapy and surgical resection of residual disease is between 70 and 80 per cent. Those patients who do not attain complete response tend to have short survivals. A case is presented of a forty-one-year-old white man who has had nearly continuous evidence of metastatic embryonal carcinoma for more than eleven years. Although NSGCTs are characterized by rapid proliferation, early metastasis, high response rate to chemotherapy, and rapid death if uncontrolled, this case demonstrates an indolent form of disease with poor response to chemotherapy and yet prolonged survival in spite of uncontrolled disease. This is the first reported case of indolent metastatic germ cell neoplasm with survival of more than ten years.
D000328:Adult; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D009373:Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D009919:Orchiectomy; D011379:Prognosis; D013724:Teratoma / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D013736:Testicular Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy