Purpose

RATIONALE: Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage tumor cells. Drugs used in chemotherapy work in different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. It is not yet known whether radiation therapy alone is as effective as chemotherapy plus radiation therapy in treating germ cell tumor. PURPOSE: This randomized phase III trial is studying radiation therapy alone to see how well it works compared to chemotherapy and radiation therapy in treating patients with newly diagnosed primary CNS germ cell tumor.