[Primary mediastinal seminoma. Case reports of 4 pure seminomas and 1 teratoma with seminoma involvement].

From 1957 till 1980 48 operations for mediastinal tumors with 5 primary seminomas seating in the thymus gland, one deriving from a teratoma. No seminoma of the testes during the following long-term observation. In two cases the diagnosis of a primary seminoma was confirmed by post-mortem examination. One of the other patients died 4 years after the operation from bone metastases. The cachectic patient showed no signs of retroperitoneal or testicular tumor. One case has been nephrectomized transperitoneally two years after the chest operation of a renal metastasis: no second tumor and no retroperitoneal metastasis in the lymph glands. One case is symptom-free 17 years after the operation. In the last ten years a crescent number of cases has been published. - Review of the theory of intrathoracic localization of primary seminomas based on the embryonal aberration of gonocytes by Friedmann. The therapy consists in the resection of the tumor, local postoperative radiotherapy and adjuvant cytotoxic chemotherapy.