RESULTS
Between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2015, 218 patients were diagnosed
with MEGCTs. Female sex (OR 2.26; p=0.037) and higher socio-economic
status (SES) (HR 0.071; p=0.039) were associated with a significantly
lower risk of death. Advanced clinical stage at diagnosis significantly
affected 5-year OS: stage I -96%; stage II - 94.3%; stage III -75.5%;
(p=0.017) and stage IV (60.1%; p<0.001). There was a
significant association between earlier stage at presentation and higher
SES (p=0.03). Patients with a serum AFP level of more than 33,000 ng/ml
at diagnosis had significantly poorer outcomes (p=0.002). The use of
chemotherapy significantly improved survival, irrespective of the
regimen used (p<0.001).
Forty-one patients (18.9%) died: 37 (16.9%) from disease progression,
three (1.9%) from infection, two (0.9%) from chemotherapy toxicity and
one (0.5%) from surgical complications.