Primary malignant mediastinal germ cell tumors: a study of eleven cases and a review of the literature

From 1957 to 1988 eleven cases of primary mediastinal germ cell tumor were referred to the Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute (PMCI). Four were seminomas, three were mixed germ cell tumors, two were embryonal carcinomas and two were teratocarcinomas. Two of the eleven patients were female. For seminoma, surgical debulking and post-operative irradiation produced the best results. Mediastinal doses ranged from 30 to 37.5 Gy. Local control was achieved in all cases; two patients survive disease-free. The non-seminomatous germ cell tumors showed a significantly poorer survival with only one of seven patients remaining alive in remission at 15 months. One other case of non-seminomatous tumor remains alive but in relapse at 23 months. Attention is focused on the anterior position of primary germ cell tumors in the mediastinum. A review of the literature is presented.