Malignant ovarian germ cell tumors

Malignant germ cell tumors of the ovary only account for 3–5% of all ovarian malignancies. They tend to occur in younger women and girls with a peak incidence in the later teens. Ovarian germ cell tumors are often extremely chemosensitive and with surgery followed by systemic chemotherapy, even women with advanced stage disease have over an 80% chance of long-term survival. Some goals of current research and investigation are to lessen surgical morbidity, to identify those women with germ cell tumors that might not need aggressive systemic therapy, and to identify better salvage chemotherapy regimens for women with recurrent or persistent disease.