Souma T, Oguma F, Terashima M
Department of Thoracic Surgery, Niigata Cancer Center Hospital, Japan.
Nihon Kyobu Geka Gakkai Zasshi. 1991 Dec;39(12):2219-22.
The patient is a 31-year-old man who was suffering from hyperthyroidism and left hemothorax. His serum HCG level was extremely elevated and chest X-ray showed a mass shadow of anterior mediastinum and bilateral multiple intrapulmonary metastasis. Our clinical diagnosis was primary HCG-producing germ cell carcinoma of mediastinum and immediately administered CDDP and VP-16. Chemotherapy was effective and tumor extirpation was carried out for mediastinum and lungs by median sternotomy. All of the resected specimen showed no cancer cells and 4 years have passed with no evidence of recurrence. Aggressive surgical approach is indicated for mediastinal germ cell carcinoma accompanied with intrapulmonary metastasis when chemotherapy is effective.