Seminoma represents about 60 % of all testicular germ cell tumors.
At presentation about 80 % of patients have stage I and about 15 % have stage II disease. The last three decades have seen a substantial change in the philosophy of management with the success of surveillance as a strategy to minimize unnecessary treatment, recognition of the late effects of radiation therapy, and the success of cisplatin-based chemotherapy as curative treatment either in the first-line or salvage setting. Overall, in stage I disease where 80-85 % are cured with orchiectomy alone, efforts now are directed at reducing the burden of the disease and its diagnosis on patients with increasing utilization of surveillance and decreased employment of adjuvant therapy. For stage II disease, balancing the relative toxicities of radiation and chemotherapy while avoiding the use of multimodality therapy due to the additive long-term toxicity has become the priority.
Written by:
Chung P, Warde P. Are you the author?
Radiation Medicine Program, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, 610 University Ave, Toronto, Ontario, M5G 2M9, Canada.
Reference: Curr Urol Rep. 2013 Aug 16. Epub ahead of print.
doi: 10.1007/s11934-013-0365-2
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 23949632
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