Mediastinal germ cell tumors: report of four cases

Abstract

The extragonadal appearance of germ cell tumors are an unusual, but not insignificant, presentation of these neoplasms. Almost always close to the midline, they have their highest incidence in the anterior mediastinum and are called, generically, extragonadal mediastinal germ cell tumors. With a favorable response to oncospecific treatment and its appearance in early stages of life, they require an accurate and timely diagnosis. In our institution, it has been possible to diagnose, in less than a year, four cases with different varieties of these tumors. Even in one case the diagnosis was reached with a fine needle aspiration biopsy, and it was confirmed in the biopsy. These cases are presented, as well as a brief overview of these tumors.

Keywords

• neoplasias del mediastino/diagnóstico
• células germinativas resultado del tratamiento