In January 1983, the German Society of Pediatric Oncology started a cooperative trial (MAKEI 83) for non-testicular germ-cell tumors. The pilot phase closed in December 1985. The treatment regimen was stratified according to histology, tumor site and tumor stage. In malignant non-seminomatous germ-cell tumors (mNSGCTs), chemotherapy consisted of four courses of 3 mg/m2 vinblastine, on days 1 and 2 and 15 mg/m2 bleomycin on days 1-3, given by continuous infusion, and 20 mg/m2 cisplatin on days 4-8 with mannitol diuresis. Courses were repeated every 3 weeks. In mNSGCT patients with ovarian FIGO stages III-IV or extragonadal primaries, second-look surgery was carried out, followed by four additional courses of chemotherapy with 100 mg/m2 VP-16 on days 1-3, 1.5 g/m2 ifosfamide on days 1-5 with mesna uroprotection and 20 mg/m2 cisplatin on days 1-5 with mannitol diuresis. In patients with sacrococcygeal germ-cell tumors, en bloc resection of the tumor, including the coccygeal bone, was mandatory. During the registration period, 57 patients with mNSGCTs were entered: 37 protocol patients and 20 follow-up patients. The event-free survival for protocol patients at 57 months was 78% +/- 6% and that for follow-up patients was 40% +/- 10% (Kaplan-Meier): the crude survival for both groups was 83% +/- 6% and 54% +/- 12%, respectively. After a review by a panel of pathologists, the histological diagnoses in 7% of all registered cases of germ-cell tumors were changed. The results of the present studies show that the histological subclassification of mNSGCTs, tumor site and tumor stage no longer had prognostic value.