What is a germinoma in the brain?

Also known as: germ cell tumors (GCT’s) of the brain, germ cell brain tumors

A germinoma is a rare form of cancer that is most often found in the brain of children between the ages of 10 and 19 years. The cancer originates in germs cells, which are actually sex cells that fail to leave the brain when the fetus is still in utero.

There are two main types:

• Germinomas
• Non-germinomatous germ cell tumors (which have some sub-types) which respond differently to treatment.

---

Reviewed by: Jack Wolfsdorf, MD, FAAP

This page was last updated on: 1/29/2019 3:21:13 PM