Endodermal sinus tumor of the ovary: the M. D. Anderson experience.

Forty-one patients with pure endodermal sinus tumor of the ovary who were treated at the M. D. Anderson Hospital from 1944 to 1981 are retrospectively reviewed. The median age of these patients was 19 years. The most common presenting symptom was abdominal pain, occurring in 33 patients (80%). No bilateral ovarian involvement was noted at initial surgery. With the exception of 1 patient treated by surgery alone, only patients treated with postoperative combination chemotherapy survived. Twenty-one of the 41 patients are alive and well. Sixteen of 22 patients treated with vincristine, actinomycin-D, and cyclophosphamide have survived. The roles of second-look laparotomy and alpha-fetoprotein monitoring are discussed. Optimal treatment seems to consist of surgery followed by aggressive combination chemotherapy.