# International Germ Cell Consensus Classification: a prognostic factor-based staging system for metastatic germ cell cancers

Source: https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-igcccg-classification-jco-1997/  
OnCo record `paper-igcccg-classification-jco-1997` (Key paper). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Pooling over 5,000 patients, the IGCCCG classification sorted metastatic testicular cancer into good, intermediate and poor prognosis groups using tumour markers, primary site and non-lung metastases, and still decides how many cycles of chemotherapy a man receives.

## Summary

Analysis of 5,202 patients with metastatic non-seminomatous and 660 with seminomatous germ cell tumours treated with cisplatin-based chemotherapy, identifying tumour marker levels (AFP, hCG, LDH), mediastinal primary site and non-pulmonary visceral metastases as independent prognostic factors and defining good (56 percent, 92 percent five-year survival), intermediate (28 percent, 80 percent) and poor (16 percent, 48 percent) prognosis groups for non-seminoma.

## Fields

- Kind: Key paper
- Last checked: 2026-09-17
- Journal: Journal of Clinical Oncology
- Year: 1997
- DOI: 10.1200/JCO.1997.15.2.594
- Authors: Unknown
- Findings: Good, intermediate and poor prognosis non-seminoma: five-year survival 92, 80 and 48 percent.; Seminoma: good (86 percent) and intermediate (72 percent) groups by non-pulmonary visceral metastases.
- What it means: Three cycles of BEP for good risk and four for intermediate and poor risk follow directly from this classification, which was updated in 2021 with modern survival figures.
- Caveats: Survival figures predate modern supportive care; the 2021 update reports better outcomes in all groups.

## Sources

- J Clin Oncol 1997: https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.1997.15.2.594
- PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9053482/

## Connected records

- cancers: [Non-seminomatous germ cell tumour](https://onco.cc/cancers/non-seminoma/), [Seminoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/seminoma/)
- journals: [Journal of Clinical Oncology](https://onco.cc/journals/jco/)

---
JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/paper-igcccg-classification-jco-1997.json