An adolescent case of retroperitoneal pure choriocarcinoma: Successful treatment with MCNU-containing high-dose chemotherapy followed by autologous bone marrow transplantation after multiple brain metastases

Choriocarcinoma is a rare disease in pediatric neoplasms. The prognosis of the disease is extremely poor once when patients relapse or become refractory bo cisplatin (CDDP). A 17-year-old male who had retroperitoneal pure choriocarcinoma of advanced stage was treated with CDDP-based intensive chemotherapy. In spire of the initial goad response to CDDP-based intensive chemotherapy, the tumor metastasized to multiple areas of the brain during chemotherapy. Since the brain in this case was thought to be a sanctuary, after radiotherapy to the whole cranium, the patient was treated with high-dose chemotherapy consisting of etoposide, carboplatin, and ranimustine (MCNU), which can penetrate the blood-brain barrier, followed by autologous bone marrow transplantation (ABMT). Twenty-four months after ABMT, the patient had no sign of disease recurrence. MCNU-containing high-dose chemotherapy with ABMT appears to be quite effective in cases that present with relapsing multiple brain metastases during CDDP-based chemotherapy.