Second-Look Laparotomy in the Management of Malignant Germ Cell Tumors of the Ovary

Abstract

From 1970 to 1985, 53 patients with malignant nondysgerminomatous germ cell tumors of the ovary underwent second-look laparotomy after initial surgery and combination chemotherapy. Twenty-two patients had immature teratoma, 15 had endodermal sinus tumor, 15 had mixed germ cell tumor, and one patient had embryonal carcinoma. Thirty-one of the neoplasms were stage I, four were stage II, 17 were stage III, and one was stage IV. Two patients received a combination of actinomycin-D, 5-fluorouracil, and cyclophosphamide; four patients received vinblastine, bleomycin, and cisplatin; 44 patients received vincristine, actinomycin-D, and cyclophosphamide; and three patients received a combination of the last two regimens. Second-look findings were negative in 52 patients and positive in one patient who was subsequently salvaged with further chemotherapy. One patient with stage I endodermal sinus tumor relapsed nine months after a negative second-look laparotomy and died. Two patients with negative findings subsequently died of leukemia. Of 53 patients undergoing second-look laparotomy, three are dead (one of cancer and two of leukemia), and 50 patients are surviving without disease. Although the precise role of second-look laparotomy in patients with malignant germ cell tumors is yet to be established, possible indications are discussed.