Management of pediatric malignant germ cell tumors: ICMR consensus document

Abstract

With the introduction of cisplatin, the outcome of children with malignant germ cell tumors (MGCT) has improved to nearly 90% 5 year survival. Over the years, through the results of various multinational co-operative trials, the chemotherapy and surgical guidelines for both the gonadal and extra-gonadal MGCTs have been refined to decrease the early and late morbidities and at the same time improve survival. Introduction of risk categorization has further added to this effort. There has been no recommendation on how the children with malignant germ cell tumors should be treated in India. The current manuscript is written with the objective of developing a consensus guideline for practitioners at a National level. Based on extensively reviewed literature and personal experience of the major pediatric oncology centres in India, the ICMR Expert group has made recommendations for management of children with MGCT India.