title: First-line chemotherapy of disseminated germ cell tumors.
abstract: The development of effective chemotherapy has been the defining event in the history of testicular cancer treatment. The discovery of cisplatin-based chemotherapy created a massive inflection that sharply defined the relatively grim precisplatin era from the astonishing postcisplatin era. The ripple effects of this discovery continue today with the rewriting of management of early-stage germ cell tumors to surveillance-based programs. This article reviews the discovery, development, and delivery of cisplatin-based chemotherapy; expected outcomes of chemotherapy treatment; remaining controversies in primary chemotherapy treatment of disseminated disease; and practical management tips for delivery of bleomycin, etoposide, and cisplatin and after chemotherapy treatment.
authors.affiliation: Divison of Medical Oncology, Virginia Mason Medical Center, 1100 9th Avenue, Seattle, WA 98101, USA. tcconsortiumnichols@gmail.com
authors.forename: Craig
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nichols
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kollmannsberger
mesh_terms: D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001761:Bleomycin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D002945:Cisplatin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005047:Etoposide / Q000008:administration & dosage; D018237:Germinoma / Q000188:drug therapy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009373:Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal / Q000188:drug therapy*; D013736:Testicular Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D001761:Bleomycin; D005047:Etoposide; D002945:Cisplatin