CISPLATIN-BASED CHEMOTHERAPY IN ADVANCED SEMINOMA - THE INSTITUT-GUSTAVE-ROUSSY EXPERIENCE

The aim of this study was to report the results of cisplatin-based com bination chemotherapy for patients with pure seminomatous tumours. 72 patients with advanced seminoma were treated with various cisplatin-ba sed chemotherapy regimens. 61 (85%) patients achieved a sustained dura ble response, 11 relapses were observed with a median time to failure of 6 months. Overall, 60 (83%) of the 72 patients remain alive and fre e of disease after a median follow-up of 64 months. Initial clinical ( age, site of primary, prior radiotherapy, extent of disease) and biolo gical (serum human chorionic gonadotrophin levels, serum lactic dehydr ogenase levels, p53 immunostaining) features which could be of predict ive value for survival, were analysed in a univariate analysis. No var iable retained statistical significance. High cure rates are expected after chemotherapy with standard cisplatin-based combinations in advan ced seminoma. Renewed efforts are required to identify markers of chem osensitivity. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.