High-dose chemotherapy improves outcomes for multiply relapsed and refractory germ-cell tumors
MD Anderson Research Highlight September 02, 2025
Testicular cancer is the most common malignancy in young men ages 15 to 35. Most patients respond well to cisplatin-based chemotherapy, with cure rates for metastatic disease as high as 70-80%, but some patients have tumors that relapse. High-dose chemotherapy (HDC) can be effective for some patients after an initial relapse, but outcomes are poor for those with multiple relapses or refractory tumors. In a Phase II trial, researchers led by , examined the safety and efficacy of a new HDC specifically targeting DNA damage repair in combination with the targeted therapy bevacizumab. The trial enrolled 65 patients with multiply relapsed and heavily pretreated testicular and other germ-cell tumors. The five-year relapse-free and overall survival rates were 54% and 55.5%, respectively, exceeding expectations. However, the addition of bevacizumab did not improve outcomes. These results were subsequently validated in a prospective cohort of 100 patients with similar poor prognosis, highlighting the promising impact of targeting DNA damage repair pathways to improve outcomes for these patients. Learn more in .
This trial was the result of a large multidisciplinary effort in patients with refractory germ-cell tumors, who clearly need more active high-dose chemotherapy than the regimens that have been in use for the past 30 years. Our results were very encouraging for this population of patients who typically have a very unfavorable prognosis.