title: Two unusual recurrences of intracranial germinoma.
abstract: Two recurrent cases of intracranial suprasellar germinoma, with relapses at 55 and 16 months, respectively, after the end of primary therapy strongly effective against pure germinoma, are presented. Human chorionic gonadotropin beta subunit was elevated in the cerebrospinal fluid and in the serum in both patients at the time of recurrence but not before. This and resulting treatment failures suggest that there were also other, more resistant elements within the primary tumor, which have not been identified in biopsy specimens. The problem of adequate diagnosis and its impact on patients' survival are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiotherapy, Institute of Oncology, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Strojan
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Popović
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Petric-Grabnar
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zupancic
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Jereb
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D002648:Child; D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D003520:Cyclophosphamide / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D018237:Germinoma / Q000097:blood / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage; D013997:Time Factors; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins; D003520:Cyclophosphamide