Cisplatin and Ifosfamide Combined With Either Paclitaxel or Vinblastine in Treating Men With Progressive or Recurrent Metastatic Germ Cell Tumors

OBJECTIVES: Primary * Compare the overall survival of men with progressive or recurrent metastatic germ cell tumors treated with paclitaxel, ifosfamide, and cisplatin vs vinblastine, ifosfamide, and cisplatin as second-line therapy. Secondary * Compare the progression-free survival of patients treated with these regimens. * Compare the toxicity profiles of these regimens in these patients. OUTLINE: This is a randomized, multicenter study. Patients are stratified according to prior complete response or partial response with negative markers for at least 6 months (yes vs no) and relapse at least 2 years after completing first-line chemotherapy for germ cell tumors (yes vs no). Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 treatment arms. * Arm I: Patients receive paclitaxel IV over 24 hours on day 1 and cisplatin IV over 20-30 minutes and ifosfamide IV over 30 minutes on days 2-5. Patients also receive filgrastim (G-CSF) subcutaneously (SC) on days 7-18 OR pegfilgrastim SC once within 24-72 hours after completion of chemotherapy. * Arm II: Patients receive vinblastine IV on days 1 and 2 and cisplatin IV over 20-30 minutes and ifosfamide IV over 30 minutes on days 1-5. Patients also receive G-CSF SC on days 7-18 OR pegfilgrastim as in arm I. In both arms, treatment repeats every 21 days for 4 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients are followed every 2 months for 2 years, every 3 months for 1 year, every 4 months for 1 year, every 6 months for 1 year, and then annually thereafter.