Surgery
Since the occurrence of immature teratoma is very rarely bilateral, current standard of care of unilateral salpingo-oophorectomy with wide sampling of peritoneal implants. Total abdominal hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy are not indicated as they do not influence outcomes. Fertility-sparing surgery in the form of unilateral salpingo-oophorectomy is the primary treatment modality in young patients. Some physicians recommend ovarian cystectomy alone, rather than a unilateral salpingo-oophorectomy for patients with an early stage low grade disease. Zhao et al. (2017), reported no significant differences in survival rates or post-operative fertility outcomes between the two treatment options. However, others caution against such an approach. Chemotherapy
Norris et al. (1976) observed an 18% recurrence rate in grade 2 tumors and 70% recurrence in grade 3 tumors. Gershenson et al. (1986), reported outcomes of 41 patients with Stage I-IV disease and observed recurrences in 94% of patients treated with surgery alone compared with 14% in patients treated with surgery and chemotherapy. Studies like these resulted in the recommendation to use chemotherapy for grade 2 and 3 tumors. Currently, the use of multi agent chemotherapy for adult patients with ovarian immature teratoma is standard of care except for grade 1, stage I tumors. There is considerable experience with a combination of vincristine, dactinomycin, and cyclophosphamide (VAC) given in an adjuvant setting; however, combinations containing cisplatin, etoposide, and bleomycin (BEP) are now preferred because of a lower relapse rate and shorter treatment time.
An immature teratoma is a teratoma that contains anaplastic immature elements, and is often synonymous with malignant teratoma. A teratoma is a tumor of germ cell origin, containing tissues from more than one germ cell line, It can be ovarian or testicular in its origin. and are almost always benign. An immature teratoma is thus a very rare tumor, representing 1% of all teratomas, 1% of all ovarian cancers, and 35.6% of malignant ovarian germ cell tumors. It displays a specific age of incidence, occurring most frequently in the first two decades of life and almost never after menopause. Unlike a mature cystic teratoma, an immature teratoma contains immature or embryonic structures. It can coexist with mature cystic teratomas and can constitute of a combination of both adult and embryonic tissue. The most common symptoms noted are abdominal distension and masses. Prognosis and treatment options vary and largely depend on grade, stage and karyotype of the tumor itself. Diagnosis
At CT and MRI, an immature teratoma possesses characteristic appearance. It is typically large (12–25 cm) and has prominent solid components with cystic elements. It is usually filled with lipid constituents and therefore demonstrates fat density at CT and MRI. Ultrasound appearance of an immature teratoma is nonspecific. It is highly heterogeneous with partially solid lesions and scattered calcifications. Stage
Traditionally, comprehensive surgical staging is performed via exploratory laparotomy with cytologic washings, peritoneal biopsies, an omental assessment (either biopsy or rarely a full omentectomy), and both pelvic and aortic lymph node dissection.