1986 Volume 26 Issue 6 Pages 501-509
A case of a 12-year-old boy with primary intracranial endodermal sinus tumor with spinal and posterior fossa metastases is presented, with sequential changes of radiological findings and alphafetoprotein levels during the clinical course.
Reported cases of intracranial endodermal sinus tumor with metastases of the spinal cord and other regions, and those with good results and long survival without spinal metastasis, are compared from the therapeutic point of view. Radiosensitivity of the tumor and the value of preventive spinal irradiation is discussed. It can be concluded that surgical extirpation of the tumor for histological confirmation, radiation therapy with or without spinal irradiation, and adjuvant chemotherapy are the treatment of choice for malignant germ cell tumors.
