Experience with stromal tumors and germ-cell tumors of the ovary

Abstract. Thirty patients with tumors of the ovarian stroma (28 granulosa cell tumors, two androblastomas) and 12 women with germ-cell tumors (nine dysgerminomas, two teratomas, one endodermal sinus tumor) were treated at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the University in Graz between 1972 and 1989. Of the 28 patients with granulosa-cell tumors, 24 (86%) had stage I disease, 27 were primarily treated by surgery, and seven (25%) developed a recurrence (three stage I, three stage III and one stage IV). There were three recurrences in the peritoneal cavity and two in the paraaortic nodes; six of the seven patients died of recurrent disease.
Four of nine patients with stage I dysgerminomas developed recurrences, two of which were located in the para-aortic nodes. Three patients with recurrence after stage Ia disease are currently alive without evidence of disease; one patient with stage Ib disease died 11 months after a paraaortic recurrence.
Wider use of cytostatic combinations and careful surgical staging, including lymphadenectomy, may improve the survival of patients with stromal or germ-cell tumors.