One of the main issues in testicular germ cell tumors (TGCTs) management is to reduce the necessary amount of treatment to achieve cure. Excess treatment burden may arise from late diagnosis of the primary as well as from false positive or negative staging results. Correct imaging is of paramount importance for successful management of TGCT. The aim of this review is to point out the current state of the art as well as innovative developments in TGCT imaging on the basis of three common challenging clinical situations.
A selective literature search was performed in PubMed, Medline as well as in recent conference proceedings.
Regarding small testicular lesions, recent studies using elastography, contrast-enhanced ultrasound or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed promising data for differentiation between benign and malignant histology. For borderline enlarged lymph nodes FDG-PET-CT performance is unsatisfactory, promising new techniques as lymphotropic nanoparticle-enhanced MRI is the subject of research in this field. Regarding the assessment of postchemotherapeutic residual masses, the use of conventional computerized tomography (CT) together with serum tumor markers is still the standard of care. To avoid overtreatment in this setting, new imaging modalities like diffusion-weighted MRI and radiomics are currently under investigation. For follow-up of clinical stage I TGCTs, the use of MRI is non-inferior to CT while omitting radiation exposure.
Further efforts should be made to refine imaging for TGCT patients, which is of high relevance for the guidance of treatment decisions as well as the associated treatment burdens and oncological outcomes.
World journal of urology. 2021 Nov 15 [Epub ahead of print]
Gamal Anton Wakileh, Christian Ruf, Axel Heidenreich, Klaus-Peter Dieckmann, Catharina Lisson, Vikas Prasad, Christian Bolenz, Friedemann Zengerling
Department of Urology and Paediatric Urology, University Hospital Ulm, Albert-Einstein-Allee 23, 89081, Ulm, Germany., Department of Urology, Armed Forces Hospital Ulm, Ulm, Germany., Department of Urology, Uro-Oncology, Robot-Assisted and Specialized Urologic Surgery, Cologne University Hospital, Cologne, Germany., Department of Urology, Asklepios Klinik Altona, Hamburg, Germany., Department for Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Hospital Ulm, Ulm, Germany., Department of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Ulm, Ulm, Germany. ., Department of Urology and Paediatric Urology, University Hospital Ulm, Albert-Einstein-Allee 23, 89081, Ulm, Germany. ., Department of Urology and Paediatric Urology, University Hospital Ulm, Albert-Einstein-Allee 23, 89081, Ulm, Germany. .