High-dose chemotherapy and peripheral blood stem cell transplantation as salvage therapy in primary mediastinal nonseminomatous germ cell tumors: The Indiana University experience.

BACKGROUND: Patients with relapsed primary mediastinal nonseminomatous germ cell tumor have low cure rates with salvage chemotherapy or surgery. The authors report survival outcomes of patients who received high-dose chemotherapy (HDCT) and peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBSCT) at Indiana University. METHODS: The prospectively maintained Indiana University germ cell tumor database identified 32 patients with primary mediastinal nonseminomatous germ cell tumor who progressed after first-line cisplatin-based combination chemotherapy and received HDCT and PBSCT between 2006 and 2021. Therapy included two consecutive courses of HDCT consisting of 700 mg/m2 carboplatin and 750 mg/m2 etoposide, each for 3 consecutive days, and each followed by PBSCT. A second course was not given if the patient experienced progressive disease or prohibitive toxicity. Progression-free survival and overall survival were analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method. Medians with 95% confidence intervals were also calculated along with 2-year probabilities. RESULTS: The median age at HDCT was 30 years (range, 18-61 years). With a median follow-up of 4.7 years (range, 1-14 years), the 2-year progression-free survival rate was 31% (95% confidence interval, 16%-47%), and the 2-year overall survival rate was 35% (95% confidence interval, 19%-52%). At last follow-up, nine patients (28%) remained without evidence of disease, including two platinum-refractory patients and two patients who were receiving HDCT as third-line therapy. There were three treatment-related deaths. CONCLUSIONS: Salvage HDCT and PBSCT is an active combination in patients who have relapsed primary mediastinal nonseminomatous germ cell tumor with curative potential and prolonged survival, including in platinum-refractory and third-line settings. The authors recommend this approach for initial salvage chemotherapy in this patient population.

Risk of Bleomycin-Related Pulmonary Toxicities and Operative Morbidity After Postchemotherapy Retroperitoneal Lymph Node Dissection in Patients With Good-Risk Germ Cell Tumors.

PURPOSE: Three cycles of bleomycin, etoposide, and cisplatin (BEP × 3) or four cycles of etoposide and cisplatin (EP × 4) are first-line chemotherapy regimens for men with International Germ Cell Cancer Collaborative Group (IGCCCG) good-risk germ cell tumors (GCTs). We determined whether inclusion of bleomycin affected pulmonary and operative morbidity after postchemotherapy retroperitoneal lymph node dissection (PC-RPLND). PATIENTS AND METHODS: We queried our database to identify IGCCCG good-risk patients who received BEP × 3 or EP × 4 induction chemotherapy before PC-RPLND from 2006 to 2016. Patients who received combination regimens were excluded. The primary outcomes of interest were pulmonary morbidity (prolonged intubation, reintubation, supplemental oxygen use, intensive care unit stay) and operative morbidity (operative time, length of stay, concomitant procedures, estimated blood loss). RESULTS: We analyzed 234 patients (191 BEP × 3 v 43 EP × 4). All patients were extubated immediately after the operation. None were reintubated or discharged on oxygen. Two patients in each cohort required an intensive care unit stay for nonpulmonary reasons. Patients treated with BEP required shorter use of supplemental oxygen (0.99 v 1.63 days; P = .005). No significant differences were found in preoperative mass size ( P = .42) or concomitant surgeries ( P = .58). Operative time was significantly shorter (131 v 170 minutes; P < .01), and estimated blood loss was considerably less (194 v 226 mL; P < .01) in patients treated with BEP. Length of stay was shorter in patients treated with BEP (3.3 v 3.9 days; P < .01). CONCLUSION: In a modern surgical cohort, the inclusion of bleomycin does not seem to influence pulmonary morbidity, operative difficulty, or nonpulmonary postoperative complications after PC-RPLND in men with IGCCCG good-risk GST.