Dendritic cells activate antitumor immunity for malignant intracranial germ cell tumor: a case report

We report a 22-year-old male patient with a history of intracranial maligna nt germ cell tumor (GCT) who had undergone tumor resection twice, followed by radiation and chemotherapy. The tumor had rapidly recurred along the ent ire ventricular wall with extensive invasion into the brain parenchyma. The serum level of human beta -chorionic gonadotropin (beta -hCG) was 232.3 ng /ml on admission. Although tissue samples of the recurrent tumor could not be obtained, the previous histological diagnosis of germinoma and elevated serum beta -hCG levels suggested recurrence of malignant GCT. The patient d eclined chemotherapy but accepted dendritic cell (DC)-based immunotherapy. DC inoculation five times resulted in rapid tumor shrinkage and a significa nt decrease in the serum level of beta -hCG. Here we discuss the effectiven ess of immunotherapy using DCs for recurrent intracranial malignant GCTs.