Extragonadal and pediatric germ cell tumors.

This article presents a review of the spectrum of extragonadal germ cell tumors, a fascinating group of rare and biologically diverse tumors. Although like testicular germ cell tumors, these tumors are chemotherapeutically responsive, the overall prognosis is not as good. Pediatric germ cell tumors share many of the biologic characteristics of the adult tumors but are more likely to be benign. An unusual aspect of mediastinal germ cell tumors, in particular, is their association with nontreatment-related hematologic malignancies.