Effects of therapy on anterior pituitary functions in patients with primary intracranial germ cell tumor.

Intracranial germ cell tumors are known to be frequently associated with anterior pituitary hypofunction and diabetes insipidus. In general, these manifestations are not ameliorated even after successful radiotherapy. Since platinum based chemotherapy is introduced as a therapeutic approach to these tumors, its effectiveness is compared with the outcome obtained by radiotherapy in terms of tumor regression and endocrine functions. In this study, six patients received conventional radiotherapy and one received chemotherapy as an initial treatment. In all patients, complete remission was achieved irrespective of the therapeutic method. Their diabetes insipidus was not improved. Many patients treated with radiotherapy did not show the complete improvement of pre-existing hypofunction of the anterior pituitaries. In contrast, chemotherapy achieved almost complete hormonal remission. These clinical observations suggest that chemotherapy is quite effective in oncological as well as endocrinological aspects in treating intracranial germ cell tumors.