Familial primary mediastinal nonseminomatous germ-cell tumors.

In this article, we describe the case of 4 brothers, 2 of which had primary mediastinal nonseminomatous germ cell tumors (PMNSGCT), while the other 2 had benign mediastinal disease. We discuss the relationship between these diseases of the mediastinum and the thymic microenvironment. Additionally, we suggest that a genetic predisposition for germ-cell tumors (GCT) may be involved since the parents were relatives.