Background: A few small series have reported salvage high-dose chemotherapy (HDC) and hematopoietic progenitor cell transplantation (HSCT) in female patients with relapsed/refractory germ cell tumors (GCTs). We conducted a retrospective analysis of female GCTs treated with salvage HDC registered with the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT). Methods: Between 1986 and 2012, 60 registered female patients with GCT, median age 27 years (range 15-48), were treated with salvage HDC. Forty-three (72%) patients had primary ovarian GCT, 7 (12%) mediastinal, 5 (8%) retroperitoneal and 5 (8%) other primary sites/unknown. Twenty-two pts (37%) received HDC as second-line therapy, 29 (48%) as third-line, and 9 (15%) as fourth- to sixth-line. Nine of 60 (15%) patients received HDC as late-intensification of a previous regimen without evidence of metastasis. The conditioning HDC regimens consisted of a single cycle in 34 cases (57%), a multi-cycle regimen in 26 (43%), and comprised carboplatin in 49 of 60 cases (82%). HSCT consisted of peripheral blood progenitor cells in 37 cases (62%), autologous bone marrow in 22 (37%), and both in one (2%). Results: Nine cases who underwent late intensification HDC were not evaluable for response. Of the 51 assessable patients, 17 (33%) achieved a complete response (CR), 8 (16%) a marker-negative partial remission (PRm-), 5 (10%) a marker-positive partial remission, 5 (10%) stable disease, and 13 (25%) progressive disease. There weres 3 toxic deaths (6%). With an overall median follow-up of 14 months (range 1-219), 7 of 9 (78%) patients with late intensification and 18 of the 25 patients (72%) achieving a CR/PRm- following HDC were free of relapse/progression. In total, 25 of 60 patients (42%) were progression-free following HDC at a median follow-up of 87 months (range 3-219 months). Conclusions: Salvage HDC based on carboplatin represents a therapeutic option for female patients with relapsed/refractory GCT.