title: [Medical treatment of ovarian malignant germ cell tumors in the adult].
abstract: Malignant ovarian germ cell tumors are infrequent neoplasms that usually affect young and otherwise healthy females. The outcome of patients has been significantly improved by the introduction of cisplatin-based chemotherapy. After conservative surgery which both establishes the diagnostic and initiates therapy, the postoperative management should be adapted to histological type as well as to tumor stage. In patients with nonseminomatous germ cell tumors, the standard treatment is a combination of bleomycin, etoposide and cisplatin (BEP protocol). The number of cycles to be given is 3 when surgery is optimal, and 4 in patients with residual or metastatic disease. In patients with pure dysgerminomas, 4 cycles of BEP are the optimal treatment for advanced stages. In early stages, the alternative to chemotherapy (3 cycles of BEP) is radiotherapy, typically given to the ipsilateral hemipelvis and para-aortic nodes. Results are satisfactory with a long-term survival rate ranging from 80 to 100%, and a minimal toxicity yielding a reasonable probability of having normal offspring.
authors.affiliation: Département de médecine, CRLC Val-d Aurelle, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Culine
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lhommé
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Droz
mesh_terms: D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001761:Bleomycin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D002945:Cisplatin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005047:Etoposide / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005260:Female; D018237:Germinoma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy; D006801:Humans; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014747:Vinblastine / Q000008:administration & dosage
chemical_list: D001761:Bleomycin; D014747:Vinblastine; D005047:Etoposide; D002945:Cisplatin