Advanced or disseminated germinomas, as well as the various germ cell tumors other than germinoma, are usually treated with radiation to the brain and spinal cord. There are several views about the dosage and areas that should be treated.
Non-germinoma germ cell tumors may respond to a variety of chemotherapeutic agents, including bleomycin , cisplatin , etoposide , cyclophosphamide and vincristine . The role of adjuvant chemotherapy , in addition to radiation, is not yet determined for these tumors that arise within the brain, although chemotherapy is extremely effective in these tumors elsewhere in the body.
Survival Variable
Recurrent Cancer Intracerebral germ cell tumors may be responsive to the same type of chemotherapy combinations used against germ cell tumors in other locations—PVB (cisplatin + vinblastine + bleomycin) and VAC (vincristine + dactinomycin + cyclophosphamide).
If the tumor recurs after treatment with these programs, Phase I and II clinical studies should be used to try to find agents that may be useful in treating this tumor, which is often responsive to chemotherapy.
Pineal Tumors
This undifferentiated tumor resembles medulloblastoma, but it develops in the region of the pineal gland in the center of the brain. The prognosis depends upon the size of tumor and its degree of spread.
