Primary Mediastinal Seminoma: Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes

Primary mediastinal pure seminoma is a rare extragonadal germ cell tumor with limited contemporary data. We aimed to characterize treatment patterns and oncologic outcomes in patients treated at a tertiary center.

We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients with primary mediastinal pure seminoma treated from 1994 to 2025 using our institution's Germ Cell Tumor Database. Clinical characteristics, treatment, recurrence, and toxicity were evaluated. Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method.

Twenty-four patients were included, with a median age at diagnosis of 35.7 years (range, 19.4-54.2). Thirteen patients (54.2%) presented with metastases, and 21 (87.5%) were classified as good risk. Median tumor size was 8.8 cm (3.5-14.0). hCG was elevated in 15 patients (68.2%), with a median of 11.2 IU/L (0.6-1500.0). After a median follow-up of 4.3 years (0.4-22.2), 1 patient died of metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma, and 3 patients (12.5%) had disease progression, all within the mediastinum and within 7.8 months of completing chemotherapy. All progressions were detected via computed tomography, after which the patients received second-line therapy. Two patients achieved durable remission after high-dose chemotherapy, and 1 patient died of progression. Five-year PFS was 86.2% (95% CI, 72.8%-100.0%), and 5-year OS was 95.2% (95% CI, 86.6%-100.0%). Three patients (12.5%) underwent thoracic surgery, with viable seminoma identified in 2 specimens. No patients experienced bleomycin-related pulmonary toxicity.

Primary mediastinal pure seminoma demonstrates excellent outcomes with front-line cisplatin-based chemotherapy, and bleomycin can be safely administered in this population. Our findings suggest that excellent outcomes can be achieved without the routine use of consolidative radiotherapy, surgery, or postchemotherapy positron emission tomography imaging.