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MALIGNANT SACROCOCCYGEAL GERM CELL TUMOUR IN AN ADULT
Author(s) -
Smithers B. Mark,
Theile David E.,
Dickinson Ian C.,
Thomson Damien B.,
Axelsen Roy A.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
australian and new zealand journal of surgery
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.111
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1445-2197
pISSN - 0004-8682
DOI - 10.1111/j.1445-2197.1996.tb01156.x
Subject(s) - medicine , bleomycin , etoposide , sacrum , surgery , polyarthritis , adjuvant chemotherapy , chemotherapy , rectum , metastasis , cancer , arthritis , breast cancer
In adults, malignant sacrococcygeal germ cell tumour is a rare cause for a presacral tumour, with only 17 cases having been reported in the literature since 1907. We report the case of a 34 year old male who presented with a 6 month history of symptoms relating to a malignant presacral tumour which required en bloc excision including the lower sacrum and rectum. He died with lung and mediastinal metastasis 7 months following surgical excision and adjuvant chemotherapy using Cisplatin, Bleomycin and Etoposide. Prior to his death, he had a severe polyarthritis of his peripheral joints and evidence of hypertrophic osteo‐arthropathy. The literature indicates that adults with these tumours have a poor prognosis, with only one reported long‐term survivor. Surgical excision offers the only chance of cure, with the role of adjuvant therapy not having been defined because of the small numbers.