[Three cases of resected primary mediastinal yolk sac tumor following six courses of bleomycin, etoposide and cisplatin (BEP) combination chemotherapy].

We experienced three cases of primary mediastinal yolk sac tumor which were resected after 6 courses of BEP chemotherapy with G-CSF support. All cases had high levels of AFP. CT scan revealed an anterior mediastinal tumor infiltrating the surrounding tissue in all cases, and multiple pulmonary nodules in one case. The serum AFP level decreased markedly, but did not return to normal after the chemotherapy was completed. The markedly decreased mediastinal tumor masses were removed with en-bloc resection of the lung and pericardium. Viable tumor cells were not present in the resected tumors. These three cases remain free of disease at present, 3 years, 9 months and 5 months after operation.