Germ Cell Tumors

Overview

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About Germ Cell Tumors

More than 7,000 cases of germ cell tumors occur in the United States each year. The most common occur in men's testicles and women's ovaries and are called gonadal tumors. More than 90 percent of testicular cancers are germ cell tumors. In contrast, less than 2 percent of ovarian cancers are germ cell tumors, most of them found in teenagers and young women.

More than 90 percent of germ cell tumors develop in the reproductive cells of the testicles or ovaries (though less than 10 percent of ovarian cancers are germ cell tumors). Physicians call those tumors gonadal germ cell tumors. The few germ cell tumors that occur in other parts of the body are called extragonadal tumors. Diagnosis and treatment of germ cell tumors depends upon their location, their form, and their stage of development.