Treatment and survival of primary intracranial germ cell tumors: a population-based study using SEER database.

introductionPrimary intracranial germ cell tumors are rare neoplasms derived from gonadal cells. They are categorized as germinoma, non-germinomatous germ cell tumor (NGCCT), or teratoma, with the latter two sparking controversy regarding the role of different treatment strategies. We provide the largest multicenter analysis of treatment outcomes for iGCTs to date.

methodsThe Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Result (SEER) database were used to record patient demographics, tumor, and treatment characteristics. Cox proportional hazards model and multiple comparisons for the Logrank test with Sidak correction was applied to compare the different treatment regimens and survival.

results1043 iGCT cases were divided into three cohorts of Germinoma, Malignant Teratoma (MT), and NGGCT. The mean age was 17.7 years for germinoma, 9.5 years for MT, and 14.4 years for NGGCT groups. Males comprised 77% of overall patient population. For Germinomas, both biopsy (hazard ratio [HR] = 4.6) and resection (HR = 14.1) had significantly worse survival outcomes compared to solo radiation therapy, with no difference between radiation and chemotherapy. For MT, no treatment combination had significantly different survival outcomes compared to resection alone. For NGGCTs, resection + chemotherapy + radiotherapy (HR = 0.012) and resection + chemotherapy (HR = 0.0049) had significantly better survival compared to resection alone.

conclusionIn germinomas, radiotherapy alone had superior survival outcomes compared to biopsy and resection, but no change in survival when compared to chemotherapy alone. Addition of radiotherapy or chemotherapy did not improve survival in MTs when compared to resection alone. Adding chemotherapy in NGGCT patients undergoing resection improved survival compared to resection alone.