Utility of frozen section in pediatric and adolescent malignant ovarian nonseminomatous germ cell tumors: A report from the children's oncology group

Abstract

Purpose: In adult women, most malignant ovarian tumors are epithelial in origin. The use of intra-operative frozen section to distinguish between benign and malignant histology is reliable in guiding operative decision-making to determine the extent of surgical staging required. Pediatric and adolescent patients with ovarian masses have a much different spectrum of pathology with most tumors arising from germ cell precursors. This review was undertaken to assess the concordance between the intra-operative frozen section and the final diagnosis as an aid to guide extent of surgical staging in a group of pediatric and adolescent patients with malignant ovarian germ cell tumors.

Methods: Records of patients aged 0 to 20 years with malignant ovarian germ cell tumors enrolled on Children's Oncology Group study AGCT0132 were reviewed. Pathology reports from patients who had both intra-operative frozen section diagnosis and final paraffin section diagnosis were compared using descriptive statistics. By inclusion criteria for the study, all patients had a final diagnosis of malignancy with required yolk sac tumor, choriocarcinoma or embryonal carcinoma histology. Available central review of pathology final paraffin section slides were compared with final institution pathology reports.

Results: Of 131 eligible patients with ovarian germ cell tumors, 60 (45.8%) had both intra-operative frozen section and final paraffin section diagnoses available. Intra-operative frozen section diagnoses were classified as: incorrect diagnosis of benign tumor (13.3%), confirmation of malignancy (61.7%), immature teratoma (16.7%), germ cell tumor not otherwise specified (5%) and no diagnosis provided (3.3%). Intra-operative frozen section was incorrect in 23 of 60 (38.3%) patients evaluated. Central pathology review was concordant with the final institution pathology diagnosis in 76.3% of patients. Central pathology review identified additional germ cell tumor components in 23.7% of patients.

Conclusions: In pediatric and adolescent patients with a confirmed final diagnosis of ovarian germ cell malignancy, intra-operative frozen section diagnosis is not reliable to inform the extent of surgical staging required. Central review by an expert germ cell tumor pathologist provides important additional information to guide therapy.

Keywords: Frozen section; Germ cell tumor; Malignant; Ovary.