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Nine patients with pure germinomas in the suprasellar region and two with germinomas in which there were teratomatous foci were studied with the view of further defining this group of neoplasms as an entity and assessing their response to treatment. All patients were children or young adults. Visual disturbances and diabetes insipidus were the most frequent early clinical manifestations. Surgical decompression of the visual pathways followed by radiation therapy apparently cured several patients and alleviated the symptoms of others. Evidence is presented to support the theory of germ cell origin for these and other forms of intracranial neoplasms and it is recommended that they be classified according to the criteria used for similar neoplasms that arise in the gonads and certain other extragonadal locations.

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