The National Cancer Data Base report on patterns of care for testicular carcinoma, 1985-1996.

BACKGROUND: Previous Commission on Cancer data from the National Cancer Data Base (NCDB) have examined time trends in stage of disease, treatment patterns, and survival for selected cancers. In the current study data relating to patients diagnosed with testicular carcinoma in 1985, 1986, 1990, 1991, 1995, and 1996 are described.

METHODS: The data reported in this review were collected from hospital cancer registries from across the U.S. Case information is submitted to the NCDB following guidelines established by the North American Association of Central Registries. Data items include patient demographics, tumor characteristics, initial course of therapy, and follow-up status. Eight calls for data have yielded a total of 6.9 million cases for the years 1985-1996, including 2280 testicular carcinoma cases in 1985-1986, 5677 cases in 1990-1991, and 7452 cases in 1995-1996. These data represent approximately 22.6%, 47.3%, and 51.4%, respectively, of the estimated cases of testicular carcinoma diagnosed in the U.S. in each of these 3 respective time periods. Cases diagnosed and reported to the NCDB between 1985-1991 and that had been staged according to the 4th edition of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) manual for the staging of cancer (1567) were used in the analysis of survival outcomes.

RESULTS: Four principle findings are reported. First, young men (age < 25 years) are diagnosed with advanced stage nonseminomatous germ cell tumors more frequently than are older men (age >/= 30 years). Second, although surgery and concomitant radiation are the standard therapy for early stage seminomas, surgery alone increasingly is being used. In the treatment of patients with advanced stage seminomas the use of surgery and radiation has declined slightly whereas surgery with concomitant chemotherapy appears to be employed with greater frequency. Third, surgery alone is the treatment of choice for patients with early stage nonseminomatous germ cell tumors and has been employed with increasing frequency over the three time periods studied. The use of surgery and concomitant chemotherapy has remained relatively stable over time in the treatment of patients with advanced stage nonseminomas. And fourth, survival rates decrease with increasing AJCC stage of disease.

CONCLUSIONS: The NCDB data regarding testicular carcinoma highlight a number of important trends in the presentation and management of testicular tumors. These trends not only evaluate new protocols of treatment but also can be used to direct new strategies toward achieving earlier patient presentation.