Decision Making in a Data-Poor Environment: Management of Brain Metastases From Testicular and Extragonadal Germ Cell Tumors

The Oncology Grand Rounds series is designed to place original reports published in the Journal into clinical context. A case presentation is followed by a description of diagnostic and management challenges, a review of the relevant literature, and a summary of the authors' suggested management approaches. The goal of this series is to help readers better understand how to apply the results of key studies, including those published in Journal of Clinical Oncology, to patients seen in their own clinical practice. A 32-year-old man with a history of a mixed germ cell tumor of the testis presented with acute-onset, right-sided weakness and numbness. His previous treatment included orchiectomy, which revealed a 5-cm tumor that was 95% yolk sac tumor and 5% embryonal carcinoma, and retroperitoneal lymph node dissection for clinical stage I disease in January 2010, which revealed no nodal metastases. Starting in June 2010, he was treated with four cycles of etoposide and cisplatin for pulmonary and thoracic lymph node metastases and a rising serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) level. He subsequently received four cycles of paclitaxel, ifosfamide, and cisplatin for relapse in the lungs and mediastinal nodes with a rising AFP level starting in January 2011. He reported having a 2-week history of intermittent headaches in December 2011, when he presented with acute-onset, right-sided weakness and numbness. Computed tomographs of the head was obtained and demonstrated a left parietal intracranial hemorrhage without midline shift or hydrocephalus. Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a complex, 4.5-cm mass consistent with a hemorrhagic metastasis. His serum AFP level was elevated at 47 ng/mL. The patient became progressively obtunded and underwent emergency surgical decompression and resection of the tumor. Histopathologic evaluation of the resected tissue showed metastatic germ cell tumor predominantly consisting of a yolk sac element ( Fig 1 ). His AFP level declined rapidly after resection, and computed tomography of the chest, abdomen, and pelvis showed no evidence of metastatic disease. However, 2 weeks later, his AFP level rose again, and repeat MRI of the brain showed a 3-cm mass in the left mesial parietal lobe adjacent to the resection site. He started treatment with filgrastim to facilitate collection of circulating hematopoietic stem cells. Several days later, after apheresis, he received his first of two cycles of high-dose carboplatin 700 mg/m2 on days −5, −4, and −3 and etoposide 750 mg/m2 on days −5, −4, and −3. The patient had a complete response to high-dose chemotherapy and no major acute complications. His cancer remains in complete remission 3 years later without additional treatment. His three lines of chemotherapy left him with chronic peripheral neuropathy.