Dysgerminoma of the ovary

Dysgerminoma is a histologic subtype of malignant ovarian germ cell tumor (MOGCT). Most publications describing dysgerminoma are of small cohorts. Large cohorts usually describe MOGCT as a group, and therefore, drawing specific conclusions regarding dysgerminomas is challenging. In this study, we sought to highlight and review the most recently published data on dysgerminoma.

We performed an electronic search in PubMed, using a range of medical subject heading terms (MeSH), including English language articles only, published earliest in 2010. Papers including "germ cell tumors," and "dysgerminoma" were included. We excluded reviews, meta-analyses, and case reports. We followed the PRISMA guidelines to prepare this review. All included articles were reviewed by two reviewers (LF, GL).

We found that dysgerminomas mostly present in an early stage of the disease and therefore harbor a favorable prognosis. Most dysgerminomas occur in women of reproductive age, in which fertility-sparing treatment is safe. While complete staging surgery for all patients is debatable, adjuvant chemotherapy seems to be beneficial. Long-term follow-up by a gynecologic oncologist is necessary as recurrence may occur.

Since most studies are small and retrospective, the development of multicenter prospective studies protocols is of utmost importance to study future lines of therapy.