[Endodermal sinus tumor of sacrococcygeal region in the infant--clinico-pathologic analysis of 6 cases]

Endodermal sinus tumor can be found in the ovaries, testes and extragonadal sites, such as sacrococcygeal, retroperitoneal, mediastinal regions or other mid line structures. Sacrococcygeal endodermal sinus tumor and its characteristics are presented. The age of patients with lesions in this region is youngest among all. Their ages ranged 10 months to 3 years in our series. Five of them were females. Most cases had difficulty in passing stools. When first seen in the clinic, all were in the advanced stage with the tumor infiltrating into the sacrococcygeal bones, presacral soft tissues and rectum already. The residual lesions recurred rapidly after operation. All cases were not treated systematically by chemotherapy or radiotherapy, and died within 1-15 months. Pathologically, the composition of the tumor is the same in every site, assuming patterns of reticular or solid, glandular or pseudopapillary appearance, Schillar-Duval bodies, hyaline bodies and so on. Positive serum AFP test may be helpful in the differential diagnosis and prognostic evaluation.