Treatment of refractory metastatic choriocarcinoma with tandem high- dose chemotherapy supported by peripheral blood stem cell transplantation: A case report

Currently, 70% to 80% of patients with advanced germ cell tumors can be cured with cisplatin-based chemotherapy, followed by surgical resection of the residual tumor. The prognosis, however, is uniformly poor for patients who fail to respond to induction chemotherapy. In this report, we describe a patient with retroperitoneal choriocarcinoma and multiple lung metastases, who was refractory to cisplatin-based chemotherapy, but who achieved a durable marker-negative partial response after 2 cycles of high-dose chemotherapy, supported by autologous, peripheral blood stem cell transplantation. The patient is now alive and well, without recurrence, more than 24 months after this therapy.