Incidence and Survival Rates for Female Malignant Germ Cell Tumors: An Institutional Review

Abstract

Background Germ cell tumor survival rates have improved over the past few decades. However, there is a lack of data on survival rates and the incidence of female germ cell tumors. This study aims to determine the incidence and survival rates of female germ cell tumors in our institution. Methodology This retrospective cross-sectional study was carried out at Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital and Research Centre, and the records over 10 years, from January 2010 to December 2020 were examined. The data of 290 females with malignant germ cell tumors were selected from 1387 females with ovarian masses, and their survival records were examined. For statistical analysis, SPSS software (version 24.0; IBM Corp. Armonk, NY) was utilized. The survival analysis was determined using the Kaplan-Meier method. Results The mean age of patients was 21.45 ± 9.28 years. The mean duration of diagnosis was 4.53 ± 2.59 years. In 245 (84.5%) patients, ovarian malignancy was involved while uterine malignancy was observed in 44 (15.2%) cases and there was one (0.3%) case of cervical carcinoma. The most common stage at diagnosis of malignancy was IA (96 (33.1%)), followed by IIIC (58 (20.0%)), IV (56 (19.3%)) and IC (26 (9.0%)). Chemotherapy was given in 244 (84.1%) cases. Out of 290 cases, 26 (9.0%) had a recurrence of the tumor while 264 (91.0%) did not have a recurrence of the tumor. Out of 290 cases, 46 (15.9%) died during follow-up, 129 (44.4%) had disease-free survival while 115 (39.7%) were healthy till the end of the study. The mean duration of survival was 3.56 ± 2.33 years. When patients' survival was compared between treatment groups, patients who did not receive chemotherapy fared better than those who did. Conclusion Female germ cell tumor patients have a good overall survival rate of more than 20% after 10 years of follow-up with effective adjuvant therapy and conservative surgery. However, more research is needed to determine the long-term effects of chemotherapy on ovarian function.

Keywords: chemotherapy; malignant germ cell tumor; ovarian carcinoma; survival; uterine malignancy.

Figure 1. Recurrence of disease after treatment during follow-up