Primary Embryonal Lung Carcinoma and Testicular Seminoma in the Same Patient Ten-Years Later: Case-Report and Literature Review

Primary germ cell tumors of lung are extremely rare. The prognosis is usually poor, with various symptoms seriously affecting quality of life. In this paper we describe the unique case of a patient affected by an embryonal carcinoma of lung and a testicular seminoma after ten years. We also report literature about pulmonary extragonadal germ cell tumors.

Multidisciplinary team for the diagnosis and treatment of 2cases of primary intestinal yolk sac tumor

Extragonadal primary yolk sac tumor of the intestinal tract origin is exceedingly rare. Through a multiple disciplinary team, the diagnosis and treatment of primary intestinal yolk sac tumor were further defined. We report 2 such cases with detailed histologic and immunohistochemical analysis. The two patients were a 7-year-old girl and a 29-year-old woman. Both of them preoperatively had an elevated serum alpha fetoprotein(AFP) level(≥ 1,210 ng/mL). The tumors are located in the intestine and imaging examination indicated the rectum as the primary site. Grossly the mass was grey-white and crisp texture. Microscopic examination featured reticular, microcystic, macrocystic, papillary, solid, and some glandular patterns. Immunohistochemically,tumor cells of both cases were positive for SALL4, AFP, pan-cytokeratin(AE1/AE3), and glypican-3. Simultaneously, a stain for EMA, OCT4, CD30, HCG, vimentin and CK20 were negative in all 2 neoplasms. The features of morphology,immunohistochemistry, laboratory examinations and imaging studies consist of the diagnosis of primary yolk sac tumor of the intestine.

A single institution, retrospective study of treatment experience in primary mediastinal germ cell tumors： elucidating the significance of systemic chemotherapy

Background Primary malignant germ cell tumors （GCTs） of mediastinum are rare neoplasms.We introduce our institutional experience in managing patients with primary malignant GCTs of the mediastinum,focusing on the analysis of therapeutic modalities.Methods A retrospective review was done in 39 consecutive patients with mediastinal malignant GCTs treated in our institution between 1991 and 2007.Results A total of 39 patients were enrolled in this study with a median age of 27 years.The 5-year overall survival （OS） and progression-free survival （PFS） rates of the whole population were 60.2% and 57.7%,respectively.Stratified by the histology,18 patients （46.2%） had seminoma and 21 patients （53.8%） had nonseminomatous germ cell tumors （NSGCTs）.The 5-year OS rate of patients with seminoma was 87.4% as compared with 36.7% in patients with NSGCTs （P=-0.0004）.The 5-year PFS rate was also significantly higher in seminoma patients （87.4% vs.31.6%,P=-0.003）.For 19 patients with NSGCTs managed with multi-modality treatment,chemotherapy exposure appeared to impact the prognosis.The 5-year OS rate was 44.9% in patients with chemotherapy exposure as compared with 20.0% in patients without it （P=0.43）.Conclusion Our study confirmed the significance of systemic chemotherapy in the treatment of primary mediastinal GCTs.