title: [Primary germ cell tumor in the mediastinum-report of 47 cases].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the clinical characterstics, effective treatment and prognosis in patients with primary germ cell tumors in the mediastinum.
  
  
  METHODS
  The data of 47 such patients treated from 1967 to 2005 were retrospectively reviewed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of these 47 patients, 41 were male and 6 female with a median age of 26 years; 8 (17.0%) had seminoma, and 39 (83.0%) non-seminoma. The overall 1-, 3-, 5-year survival rate was 63.4%, 37.5% and 34.8% with a median survival time of 16 months; which was 100%, 83.3% and 83.3% for seminoma and 56.4%, 30% and 27.3% for nonseminoma, respectively. The pathologic type was found to be the only independent prognostic factor (P = 0.045).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Primary mediastinal serminoma is sensitive to radiotherapy or chemotherapy with a good prognosis, but the prognosis of primary mediastinal non-seminoma is poor. Cisplatin-based chemotherapy still plays a key role in the treatment of primary mediastinal non-seminoma as the survival of those has been improved.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Cancer Hospital (Institute), Chinese Academy Of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100021, China.
authors.forename: Zheng-tao
authors.initials: ZT
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Jin-wan
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Wen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002648:Child; D002945:Cisplatin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D003520:Cyclophosphamide / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004358:Drug Therapy / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D005472:Fluorouracil / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008479:Mediastinal Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009373:Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011878:Radiotherapy / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018239:Seminoma / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D014750:Vincristine / Q000008:administration & dosage
chemical_list: D014750:Vincristine; D003520:Cyclophosphamide; D002945:Cisplatin; D005472:Fluorouracil