Outcomes of pediatric and adolescent girls with malignant ovarian germ cell tumors.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the oncologic and reproductive outcomes of pediatric and young adolescents with malignant ovarian germ cell tumors (MOGCTs).

METHODS: Pediatric or young adolescent girls aged 16years or under with MOGCT were eligible for this study.

RESULTS: Forty-two pediatric or adolescent girls with MOGCT met the inclusion criteria. The median age was 12years (range, 6-16years) and 29 patients were premenarchal. The most common histologic type was immature teratoma, and 30 patients (54.3%) had stage I MOGCT. All patients underwent fertility-sparing surgery, which was defined as the preservation of at least one adnexa and the uterus. No patient had residual disease after surgery. Thirteen patients had tumor spillage, two patients had a positive peritoneal cytology, and two patients had lymph node metastasis. After surgery, 31 patients received adjuvant chemotherapy with bleomyocin, etoposide, and cisplatin (BEP) (median, 4cycles; range, 1-6 cycles). After a median follow-up time of 93months (range, 22-217 months), six patients had a recurrence of the disease, and one patient died. The 5-year disease-free and overall survival rates were 85% and 97%, respectively. Among the surviving 41 patients, seven were premenarchal, 30 had regular menstruation, and three had irregular menstruation. No patient had premature ovarian failure.

CONCLUSION: All patients received uniform treatment consisting of fertility-sparing complete cytoreductive surgery followed by BEP chemotherapy. Regardless of histologic type and FIGO stage, the oncologic outcomes were excellent and the reproductive outcomes were favorable.