Saudi Med J. 2023 May;44(5):498-499. doi: 10.15537/smj.2023.44.5.20230070.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: To investigate the clinical and pathological characteristics of extracranial germ cell tumors (GCTs) in children aged 0-168 months treated at the National Guard Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia from 1990 to 2020.
METHODS: In this retrospective analysis, the data for all cases of GCTs were collected from 1990 to 2020. Statistical analyses were carried out using JMP software. The data was divided into 4 main categories: demographics, pathological/clinical features, recurrence, treatment and outcome.
RESULTS: The study included 50 patients, with a mean age at diagnosis of 56.52 months. The median follow-up duration was 30 months. Most tumors were in the gonads, and among the extragonadal tumors, the sacro-coccyx was the most frequent site of the disease.The most common histological subtype of GCTs is yolk sac tumor, accounting for 28% of cases. Of the 50 patients, 46% received chemotherapy, and 54% underwent surgery without chemotherapy. Ten (20%) patients experienced recurrence after treatment. At the last follow-up, 96% of the patients were alive, and only 2 of the patients died due to advanced disease.
CONCLUSION: Our findings were comparable to international data, but improvement in surveillance is required for long-term survivors.
PMID:37182921 | DOI:10.15537/smj.2023.44.5.20230070
