Treating relapsed and refractory metastatic germ cell tumours with high-dose chemotherapy with carboplatin and etoposide and autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Introduction and aim To demonstrate the real-life data about patients who underwent AHSCT due to GCT. Methods Between November 2016 and April 2020, 64 patients who received CE as high-dose chemotherapy for AHSCT in the Gulhane Education and Research Hospital were included in the study. Sixty-one patients received one AHSCT with CE chemotherapy regimen. Survival data and clinical characteristics were evaluated retrospectively. Results The mean age of the patients were 31.9 ± 9 (min-max:18–55). With a median follow-up of 10.7 ± 8.7 months, the 1-year progression-free survival (PFS) rate was 57.8%, and the 1-year overall survival rate was 77.5%. Median overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) times were 21.5 ± 1.8 (95% CI: 14.5–33.4) and 20 ± 2 months, respectively. The response rate was 72%. There were three treatment-related deaths. Conclusion This sizeable single-centre study shows that patients with relapsed metastatic GCT are curable by CE as high dose chemotherapy plus AHSCT with reliable toxicity even for a single cycle.