Systematic Review of the Survival Outcomes of Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Women with Malignant Ovarian Germ Cell Tumors

• Published in: Cancers Vol. 15; no. 18; p. 4470
• Main Authors: Sakaguchi-Mukaida, Hitomi, Matsuzaki, Shinya, Ueda, Yutaka, Matsuzaki, Satoko, Kakuda, Mamoru, Lee, Misooja, Deguchi, Satoki, Sakata, Mina, Maeda, Michihide, Kakubari, Reisa, Hisa, Tsuyoshi, Mabuchi, Seiji, Kamiura, Shoji
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 08.09.2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Adjuvant treatment; Adverse events; Analysis; Bias; Bleomycin; Cancer; Case reports; Chemotherapy; Cisplatin; Clinical trials; Etoposide; Germ cell tumors; Medical prognosis; Medical research; Medical Subject Headings-MeSH; Medicine, Experimental; Menstruation; Meta-analysis; Ovarian cancer; Response rates; Sensitivity analysis; Surgery; Surgical outcomes; Systematic Review; Tumors; Women; Womens health; Japan; United States > US; neoadjuvant chemotherapy; malignant germ cell tumor; systematic review; advanced disease; ovarian cancer; germ cell
• ISSN: 2072-6694; 2072-6694
• DOI: 10.3390/cancers15184470

Randomized clinical trials assessing the efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) for advanced epithelial ovarian cancer have predominantly included women with high-grade serous carcinomas. The response rate and oncological outcomes of NACT for malignant ovarian germ cell tumors (MOGCT) are poorly understood. This study aimed to examine the effects of NACT on women with MOGCT by conducting a systematic review of four public search engines. Fifteen studies were identified, and a further descriptive analysis was performed for 10 original articles. In those studies, most women were treated with a bleomycin, etoposide, and cisplatin regimen, and one to three cycles were used in most studies. Four studies comparing NACT and primary debulking surgery showed similar complete response rates (n = 2; pooled odds ratio [OR] 0.90, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.15–5.27), comparable overall survival (n = 3; 87.0–100% versus 70.0–100%), disease-free survival (n = 3; 87.0–100% versus 70.0–100%), recurrence rate (n = 1; OR 3.50, 95%CI 0.38–32.50), and adverse events rate from chemotherapy between the groups. In conclusion, NACT may be considered for the management of MOGCT; however, possible candidates for NACT use and an ideal number of NACT cycles remain unknown. Further studies are warranted to validate the efficacy of NACT in advanced MOGCT patients.