A pragmatic diagnostic approach to primary intracranial germ cell tumors and their treatment outcomes

BACKGROUND: Primary intracranial germ cell tumors (ICGCT) are often diagnosed with tumor markers and imaging, which may avoid the need for a biopsy. An intracranial germ cell tumor with mild elevation of markers is seldom stratified as a distinct entity. METHODS: Fifty-nine patients were stratified into three groups: pure germinoma (PG), secreting germinoma (SG) and non-germinomatous germ cell tumors (NGGCTs). RESULTS: At 5 years, progression-free survival and overall survival of the three groups (PG vs SG vs NGGCT) were 91% versus 81% versus 59%, and 100% versus 82% versus 68%, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference in outcome among histologically and clinically diagnosed germinomas. CONCLUSION: A criterion for clinical diagnosis when a biopsy is not feasible is elucidated, and comparable outcomes were demonstrated with histologically diagnosed germinomas.