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Malignant Germ Cell Tumors

  • Chapter
The Surgery of Childhood Tumors

Abstract

Germ cell tumors are a relatively uncommon group of neoplasms which can have a variety of presentations affecting the fetus, infant, child, and adolescent. They are interesting for several reasons: in children the extragonadal site predominates compared with gonadal locations; the most common malignant histology is yolk sac tumor which has alpha fetoprotein as a sensitive marker; although in the past these tumors have had a poor prognosis they have been noted with excellent survival in the era of cooperative group trials utilizing cisplatin, etoposide, and bleomycin; and, based on the effectiveness of chemotherapy, neoadjuvant therapy followed by surgery is indicated to avoid excision of normal structures in unresectable cases.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Riley Children’s Hospital, 702 Barnhill Drive, Suite 2500, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA

    Professor Frederick J. Rescorla

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  1. Professor Frederick J. Rescorla
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Glasgow and Honorary Consultant Paediatric Surgeon at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Women & Children’s Directorate, Yorkhill Glasgow, G3 SSJ, Scotland UK

    Robert Carachi MD, PhD, FRCS (Professor of Surgical Paediatrics) (Professor of Surgical Paediatrics)

  2. Emeritus Department of Surgery, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA

    Jay L. Grosfeld MD, FACS, FAAP, FRCS (Lafayette Page Professor and Chairman) (Lafayette Page Professor and Chairman)

  3. Department of Surgical Paediatrics, Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Yorkhill Glasgow, G3 SSJ, Scotland UK

    Amir F. Azmy MB, ChB, DS, FRCS (Consultant Paediatric Surgeon) (Consultant Paediatric Surgeon)

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© 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Rescorla, F.J. (2008). Malignant Germ Cell Tumors. In: Carachi, R., Grosfeld, J.L., Azmy, A.F. (eds) The Surgery of Childhood Tumors. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-29734-5_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-29734-5_13

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-29733-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-29734-5

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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