Laproscopy is often suggested as an alternative to surgically stage patients with immature teratoma.Ovarian cancer is staged using the FIGO staging system and uses information obtained after surgery, which can include a total abdominal hysterectomy via midline laparotomy, unilateral (or bilateral) salpingo-oophorectomy, pelvic (peritoneal) washings, assessment of retroperitoneal lymph nodes and/or appendectomy. The  AJCC staging system, identical to the FIGO staging system, describes the extent of tumor (T), the presence of absences of metastases to lymph nodes (N), the presence or absence of distant metastases (M). Pathology
An immature teratoma contains varying compositions of adult and embryonic tissue. The most common embryonic component identified in immature teratomas is the neuroectoderm. Occasionally, tumors may present neuroepithelium that resemble neuroblasts. Tumors may also present embryonic components such as immature cartilage and skeletal muscle of mesodermal origin. Immature teratomas composed of embryonic endodermal derivatives are rare.Often a mature cystic teratoma is misdiagnosed as its immature counterpart due to the misinterpretation of mature neural tissue as immature. While mature neural cells have nuclei with uniformly dense chromatin and neither exhibit apoptotic or mitotic activity, immature neural cells have nuclei with vesicular chromatin and exhibit both apoptotic and mitotic activity. A recent study has identified the use of Oct-4 as a reliable biomarker for the diagnosis of highly malignant cases of immature teratomas. Grade
Thurlbeck and Scully devised a grading system for “pure” immature teratomas on the basis of differentiation of the cellular elements of the tumor. The proportion of immature tissue elements defines the grade of immaturity.
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.