抄録
A 23-year-old male with a suprasellar germinoma was initially treated with local irradiation, and the tumor completely disappeared. Three months later, he complained of pain in the left thigh. Myelography revealed multiple spinal metastases at the Th5 to Th8 and Th11 to L5 levels. The tumors were removed through a laminectomy, and the histopathological diagnosis was typical germinoma. Whole spinal irradiation was administered postoperatively. Neurological examination on discharge revealed no abnormality other than hypalgesia over the left L5 segment. Six years later, tumor was found in the lateral ventricles. The human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) and HCG β subunit levels were markedly elevated in both serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Irradiation considerably decreased the size of the tumor but did not completely eradicate it. Subsequent chemotherapy with cisplatin resulted in complete disappearance of the intraventricular tumor, as evidenced by computed tomography (CT). The serum and CSF levels of HCG and HCG β subunit were well correlated with the tumor size, as shown by CT. The authors emphasize the curative potential of cisplatin in the treatment of recurrent germinoma.
