Prognosis
The average life expectancy of an individual with any type of XP and no neurological symptoms is approximately 37 years, and 29 years if neurological symptoms are present.In the United States, the probability for individuals with the disorder to survive until 40 years of age may be as high as 70% if they have never been exposed to sunlight in their life.In India, many patients with XP die at an early age from skin cancers. However, if a person is diagnosed early, does not have severe neurological symptoms, and takes precautionary measures to completely avoid any exposure to UV light and sunlight, they may be able to survive until middle age. History
Xeroderma pigmentosum was first described in 1874 by Hebra and Moritz Kaposi. In 1882, Kaposi coined the term xeroderma pigmentosum for the condition, referring to its characteristic dry, pigmented skin.The 1968 paper about XP by James Cleaver demonstrated the link between UV-induced DNA damage, faulty DNA repair and cancer. Culture
Because people with XP need to strictly avoid sunlight, but can go outside at night, they have been called children of the dark, children of the night, and vampire children. These terms can be considered derogatory.XP has been a plot element in several fictional works.
Germ cell tumor (GCT) is a neoplasm derived from germ cells. Germ-cell tumors can be cancerous or benign. Germ cells normally occur inside the gonads (ovary and testis). GCTs that originate outside the gonads may be birth defects resulting from errors during development of the embryo. Classification
GCTs are classified by their histology, regardless of location in the body. However, as more information about the genetics of these tumors become available, they may be classified based on specific gene mutations that characterize specific tumors. They are broadly divided in two classes:
The germinomatous or seminomatous germ-cell tumors (GGCT, SGCT) include only germinoma and its synonyms dysgerminoma and seminoma. The nongerminomatous or nonseminomatous germ-cell tumors (NGGCT, NSGCT) include all other germ-cell tumors, pure and mixed.The two classes reflect an important clinical difference. Compared to germinomatous tumors, nongerminomatous tumors tend to grow faster, have an earlier mean age at time of diagnosis (around 25 years versus 35 years, in the case of testicular cancers), and have a lower five-year survival rate. The survival rate for germinomatous tumors is higher in part because these tumors are very sensitive to radiation, and they also respond well to chemotherapy. The prognosis for nongerminomatous tumours has improved dramatically, however, due to the use of platinum-based chemotherapy regimens. Germinomatous
Nongerminomatous
Mixed
Mixed germ cell tumors occur in many forms. Among these, a common form is teratoma with endodermal sinus tumor. Teratocarcinoma refers to a germ cell tumor that is a mixture of teratoma with embryonal carcinoma, or with choriocarcinoma, or with both.