FERTILITY-PRESERVING TREATMENT FOR ADVANCED MALIGNANT GERM-CELL TUMORS OF THE OVARY

We retrospectively studied 26 patients with stage Ic or greater malign ant germ cell tumors of the ovary. Sixteen of the 26 underwent fertili ty-preserving treatment and 10 underwent total hystero-oophorectomy. T here were 3 deaths in each group, but none among the stage Ic cases. T he survival curves for stage II to IV disease did not significantly di ffer in the two groups. Seven patients in the fertility-preserving gro up were married, and had children. All patients in the hystero-oophore ctomy group remained single except for one who was married before surg ery. These results suggest that fertility-preserving treatment should be offered even in advanced cases.