Malignant ovarian germ cell tumours in the post‐menopausal population

• Published in: Australian & New Zealand journal of obstetrics & gynaecology 2019-04, Vol.59 (2), p.285-287
• Main Authors: Robertson, Jessica A., Sanday, Karen, Nicklin, James
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age Factors; Female; germ cell tumour; Humans; malignancy; Middle Aged; Neoplasm Staging; Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal - epidemiology; Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal - pathology; Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal - therapy; ovarian; Ovarian Neoplasms - epidemiology; Ovarian Neoplasms - pathology; Ovarian Neoplasms - therapy; Postmenopause; post‐menopause; Premenopause; prognosis; Queensland; Retrospective Studies; Survival Rate
• ISSN: 0004-8666; 1479-828X
• DOI: 10.1111/ajo.12897

Background Malignant ovarian germ cell tumours (MOGCT) are uncommon in the general population and very rare in post‐menopausal women. Aims To evaluate the demographics, treatment and survival of post‐menopausal women with MOGCT treated at the Queensland Centre for Gynaecological Cancer (QCGC) and compare these with pre‐menopausal women. Materials and Methods Retrospective analysis was performed of the QCGC database from January 1981 to February 2017. The disease course of post‐menopausal women was compared with pre‐menopausal women affected by MOGCT over the same period and compared with the world literature. Results There were six post‐menopausal women with MOGCT treated at the QCGC compared with 166 pre‐menopausal women. In the post‐menopausal group of women, there was no mortality directly attributed to germ cell ovarian disease compared with 10 (6.0%) women in the pre‐menopausal group. Conclusions Malignant ovarian germ cell tumours are a very rare condition in post‐menopausal women. Despite some suggestion in the world literature that survival outcomes are worse in this population, this was not found in our study.