CNS Germ Cell Tumours
Reduced-dose Radiotherapy without Chemotherapy for Intracranial Germinomas: Results from an Asian Multicenter Study.
Wee CW, et al
A large Asian multicenter retrospective study of 139 patients with intracranial pure germinoma demonstrates that reduced-dose radiotherapy (rdRT) alone — without chemotherapy — achieves excellent long-term disease control, with 5-year and 10-year event-free survival (EFS) rates of 90.0% and 88.4%, r…
Source →Epidemiology and long-term survival of primary central nervous system germ cell tumors in Korea: a nationwide population-based study, 2005-2022.
Byun YH, et al
A nationwide population-based study of 1,642 newly diagnosed primary CNS germ cell tumors (CNSGCTs) in Korea from 2005 to 2022 found that the incidence was significantly higher in Korea than in the United States, with the highest rates observed in adolescents aged 10–19 years and a marked male predo…
Source →Suprasellar germinoma: intraoperative findings from an endoscopic endonasal approach. Illustrative case.
Ichikawa-Escamilla E, et al
A 25-year-old patient with a suprasellar mass initially suspected to be a craniopharyngioma was found intraoperatively to harbour a germinoma, prompting the surgical team to abandon planned resection and perform a biopsy instead. Postoperative chemoradiotherapy produced a complete radiological respo…
Source →Report from the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation - infantile glioma and other non-embryonal central nervous system tumors: evolving molecular advances and current treatment landscape.
Cantor E, et al
A comprehensive review from the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation establishes that non-embryonal infant brain tumors span a wide spectrum of outcomes: low-grade gliomas demonstrate survival approaching 100%, infant-type hemispheric gliomas (IHG) — a molecularly distinct entity driven by receptor …
Source →Metachronous Intracranial Germinoma Recurrence After Long-Term Remission: A Case Report.
Perea Gill A, et al
A 22-year-old man with an intracranial pineal germinoma achieved complete remission following radiotherapy, but developed a confirmed metachronous germinoma in periventricular and callosal locations 13 years after initial diagnosis. At first presentation, tumor markers included serum β-hCG of 18.46 …
Source →[Treatment of CNS Germ Cell Tumors].
Takami H
A comprehensive review of central nervous system (CNS) germ cell tumors reports that germinomas — the most radiosensitive and chemosensitive subtype — achieve long-term survival rates exceeding 90% with combined chemoradiotherapy, while outcomes for relapsed non-germinomatous germ cell tumors (NGGCT…
Source →Clinical Utility of Amino Acid PET-MRI in Children with CNS Neoplasms: A Territory-Wide Study from Hong Kong.
Lu ER, et al
A territory-wide pediatric study from Hong Kong found that amino acid PET-MRI reliably distinguishes high-grade from low-grade central nervous system tumours in children, with high-grade lesions showing significantly higher median SUVmax (3.7 vs. 1.6, p=0.00006) and median TBRmax (2.06 vs. 0.91, p=0…
Source →Imaging response assessment for CNS germ cell tumours: consensus recommendations from the European Society for Paediatric Oncology Brain Tumour Group and North American Children's Oncology Group.
Morana G, et al
An international working group co-convened by the European Society for Paediatric Oncology Brain Tumour Group and the North American Children's Oncology Group has established the first unified consensus recommendations for imaging response assessment in patients with CNS germ cell tumours, resolving…
Source →Incidence of childhood CNS tumours in Britain and variation in rates by definition of malignant behaviour: population-based study.
Stiller CA, et al
A population-based study using data from Great Britain's National Registry of Childhood Tumours found an age-standardised incidence of 40.1 per million for CNS tumours in children under 15 during 2001–2010, with astrocytomas accounting for the largest share at 41%, followed by embryonal tumours at 1…
Source →Mature teratoma of the pineal region in the paediatric age group: A case report and review of the literature.
De Los Reyes EV, et al
A case report of a 9-year-old boy presenting with frontal headache, photophobia, nausea, vomiting, and diplopia documents a confirmed mature teratoma of the pineal region, a tumour type accounting for 0.5% of all intracranial tumours and 2–4% of intracranial tumours in children, with 50–60% of CNS g…
Source →The embryonic stem cell factor UTF1 serves as a reliable diagnostic marker for germinomas.
Pantazis G, et al
UTF1, an embryonic stem cell transcription factor, demonstrates 100% sensitivity and 97% specificity for detecting central nervous system (CNS) germinomas, establishing it as a new and reliable diagnostic marker in pathology. Researchers immunohistochemically examined 21 CNS germinomas and two mixed…
Source →Pseudopapillary pattern in intra-operative squash smear preparations of central nervous system germinomas.
Ates D, et al
A new study reports that intracranial germinomas frequently display a dominant pseudopapillary pattern on intra-operative squash smear preparations, a finding that can lead to misdiagnosis as other tumors with papillary morphology. Researchers examined five cases (three female, two male; ages 5–21 y…
Source →New evidence for the origin of intracranial germ cell tumours from primordial germ cells: expression of pluripotency and cell differentiation markers.
Hoei-Hansen CE, et al
A study of 21 children and young adults with intracranial germ cell tumours found strong expression of embryonic stem cell pluripotency markers — including C-KIT, OCT-3/4 (POU5F1), AP-2gamma (TFAP2C), and NANOG — providing compelling evidence that these rare brain tumours originate from primordial g…
Source →Alpha-fetoprotein and beta-human chorionic gonadotropin: their clinical significance as tumour markers.
Gregory JJ, et al
A review published in Drugs concludes that monitoring the rate of decline of two tumor markers — alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) — after treatment initiation offers stronger prognostic information than simply measuring marker levels at diagnosis, particularly in g…
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