title: Malignant germ cell tumors of the ovary.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the efficacy of adjuvant therapy for ovarian germ cell tumors.
  
  
  METHODS
  We reviewed records of women who had malignant germ cell tumors of the ovary from 1977-1997.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seventy-two women had surgical resections of malignant ovarian germ cell tumors and most received adjuvant therapy. Fifty-six women (78%) presented with stage I disease, and 16 (22%) had more advanced disease. Tumor subtypes included dysgerminoma (n = 20), yolk sac tumor (n = 8), immature teratoma (n = 29) and mixed germ cell tumor (n = 15). Surgical management of the 56 with stage I disease consisted of total abdominal hysterectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, and extensive surgical staging in ten women, whereas a conservative surgical approach, consisting of unilateral adnexectomy with or without comprehensive surgical staging, was adopted in later years (n = 46). Fifty-six women were treated with postoperative chemotherapy, predominantly platinum-based regimens. The 5-year actuarial survival rate was 93%. None of the 36 women who presented after 1984 have died of disease.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These data confirmed that platinum-based adjuvant treatments allow most women with ovarian germ cell malignancies to have conservative surgery without compromising survival.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, University of California, Irvine-Medical Center, Orange, USA.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tewari
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cappuccini
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Disaia
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Berman
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Manetta
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Kohler
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D002648:Child; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D018237:Germinoma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011252:Pregnancy Complications, Neoplastic / Q000601:surgery*; D018714:Radiotherapy, Adjuvant; D012189:Retrospective Studies