{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,29]],"date-time":"2025-12-29T06:54:28Z","timestamp":1766991268340,"version":"3.48.0"},"reference-count":31,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,26]],"date-time":"2025-12-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1766707200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Children"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Germ cell tumors are benign or malignant tumors that originate from the human embryo\u2019s primordial germ cells. This study aims to conduct a retrospective analysis of germ cell tumors followed up at our institution, including their epidemiological data, treatment, and prognosis. Patients and Methods: Ninety-three cases were included and retrospectively evaluated for socio-demographic features, clinical data, presenting symptoms, histopathological findings, localization, staging, treatment protocol, and survival analysis. Results: Patients were diagnosed between 10 days and 17 years 10 months (median 27.2 months); 37 (40.7%) were male, 54 (59.3%) female. The tumors were located in the sacrococcygeal region (33.3%), ovaries (26.8%), testes (25.8%), abdomen (7.5%), CNS (2.1%), liver, adrenal gland, anterior mediastinum, and spine. Thirty-nine lesions were benign, and 54 were malignant. Mature cystic teratomas (40.8%), endodermal sinus tumors (28.0%), mixed germ cell tumors (12.9%), immature teratomas (9.7%), germinoma (6.5%), gonadoblastoma (1.1%), and choriocarcinoma (1.1%) were the different types of histology. We observed metastases in 17 malignant cases, with the lungs being the most commonly affected (10.7%). Stages I, II, III, and IV included 16, 17, 11, and 10 cases, respectively. Survival rates for all cases were 95.8%, and for malignant tumors, they were 92.7%. For malignant cases, the event-free survival rate was 84.2%. Conclusions: The findings provide comprehensive epidemiological and clinical data on germ cell tumors, enhancing understanding of their distribution, treatment outcomes, and prognosis. The high survival rates observed highlight the effectiveness of current treatment protocols, as well as the importance of early diagnosis and appropriate management.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/children13010036","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,29]],"date-time":"2025-12-29T06:25:51Z","timestamp":1766989551000},"page":"36","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Retrospective Evaluation of Childhood Germ Cell Tumors: A Single-Center Experience"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Arzu","family":"Selamioglu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Pediatric Metabolic Diseases, Ba\u011fc\u0131lar Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul 34214, Turkey"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2772-9956","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"\u0130brahim","family":"Kartal","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, Ondokuz May\u0131s University, Samsun 55270, Turkey"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"O\u011fuz Salih","family":"Dincer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, Ondokuz May\u0131s University, Samsun 55270, Turkey"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Burak","family":"Tander","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatric Surgery, School of Medicine, Ac\u0131badem University, Istanbul 34750, Turkey"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Murat","family":"Elli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, School of Medicine, Istanbul Medipol University, Istanbul 34810, Turkey"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"S\u00fckriye Bilge","family":"G\u00fcrsel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Radiation Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, Ondokuz May\u0131s University, Samsun 55270, Turkey"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sabri","family":"Acar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics, Medicana Hospital, Samsun 55080, Turkey"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ayhan","family":"Dagdemir","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, Ondokuz May\u0131s University, Samsun 55270, Turkey"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,26]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"263","DOI":"10.1097\/MPH.0000000000000125","article-title":"Recent advances in understanding the etiology and pathogenesis of Pediatric Germ Cell Tumors","volume":"36","author":"Mosbech","year":"2014","journal-title":"J. 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