Ovarian nondysgerminomatous germ cell tumors in childhood and adolescence in Israel: Comparison of survival between two periods

Abstract

Menczer J, Geva D, Barchana M. Ovarian nondysgerminomatous germ cell tumors in childhood and adolescence in Israel: Comparison of survival between two periods. Int J Gynecol Cancer 1998; 8: 124–127. During a 25 year period, 40 patients ≤19 years old with ovarian nondysgerminomatous germ cell malignancies were diagnosed throughout Israel—15 during the early (1970–1979) and 25 during the late (1980–1994) study period. No difference between the periods was found with regard to distribution of tumor type, age and stage at diagnosis, and type of initial operation. The five-year survival of patients diagnosed during the late period was significantly longer than during the early period (79.8% vs 53.3%, respectively; P = 0.05). This improved survival can most probably be attributed to the significantly higher percentage of patients who received platin-based combination chemotherapy during the late period. Most of the patients had fertility-sparing surgery and subsequently, among the 22 surviving patients older than 18 years, eight were married at the last date of follow-up, and six of those delivered 11 infants. None of the patients developed leukemia. The rarity of ovarian nondysgerminomatous malignancies should prompt centralization of management for obtaining optimal outcome.