Salvage Resection of Mediastinal Nonseminomatous Germ Cell Tumor in a Patient with Extrathoracic Involvement upon Progression following High-Dose Chemotherapy

• Main Authors: Jia-Ling Chou, David Tse
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Karger Publishers 2021-08-01
• Series: Case Reports in Oncology
• Subjects: mediastinal mass; germ cell tumor; high-dose chemotherapy; salvage resection
• Online Access: https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/518401

Primary mediastinal nonseminomatous germ cell tumor with extrathoracic metastases is associated with a very high mortality rate, and there is no consensus regarding optimal upfront therapy. Once patients fail the first-line treatment, salvage therapy often fails to effectively control the disease. Resection of the residual mediastinal mass does not appear to achieve long-term control in those who have extrathoracic metastases following conventional first-line systemic therapy. We report a case where a young man presented with symptomatic brain metastases as well as extensive visceral involvement of the liver, small intestine, and lungs. He was successfully managed with multimodality treatment including high-dose chemotherapy with hematopoietic stem cell support following standard first-line chemotherapy, resection of mediastinal disease, lung metastasectomy, and stereotactic brain radiation. He has achieved long-term survival.