The incidence, prognosis, clinical and histological characteristics, treatment, and outcome of patients with bilateral germ cell testicular cancer in Hungary.

PURPOSE: To examine the incidence, prognosis, clinical and histological characteristics, treatment, and outcome of patients with bilateral testicular cancer in the referral center in Hungary, to determine which parameters might predict a second testicular tumor.

METHODS: . Clinical parameters-such as time of original surgery, histology of primary tumor, extent of the disease, serum marker concentrations, history of testicular abnormalities, treatment, response to treatment, follow-up period, data on second carcinoma-of bilateral testicular tumors among the 2,386 patients with testicular cancer treated between November 1988 and November 1998 were analyzed.

RESULTS: The incidence of patients with synchronous testicular tumor was 0.8% (19 of 2,386 patients). The clinical stages were 8 I/A, 5 I/B, 1 II/A, 2 II/B, 1 III/A, and 2 III/B. Median follow-up time was 93 months and the 5-year overall survival was 84%. The incidence of patients with metachronous testicular cancer (median age 28 years and 35 years at first and second tumor diagnosis) was 2.2% (53 of 2,386 patients) and the median time to second tumor was 76 months (range 18-203 months). The clinical stages at the first and second tumor diagnosis were: 14 I/A, 21 I/B, 15 II/A, 2 II/B, and 1 III/B, and 26 I/A, 16 I/B, 3 II/A, 1 II/B, 7 III/B, respectively. The median follow-up time was 42 months and the 5-year overall survival was 93%. In thirteen patients with metachronous cancers, two family histories of testicular cancer, five cases of undescended testicles, seven cases of testicular atrophy, and one case of azoospermia were detected. There was a non-significant trend to a longer cancer interval after chemotherapy and radiotherapy and a tendency to a greater incidence of asynchronous seminoma after chemotherapy. Clinical stage I tumors were more frequent in the surveyed group than among patients not followed up according to the institutional protocol ( P = 0.01), but the survival rate was good in both groups. Seminoma as a second tumor was diagnosed in an older age group (median 38 years, range 25-49 years) than nonseminoma (median 32 years, range 21-51 years, P < 0.045). The interval till the appearance of a metachronous testicular cancer depended on tumor histology: in seminoma cases it was longer than in nonseminoma cases (median time: 121 months versus 50 months, P = 0.002).

CONCLUSIONS: The overall incidence of bilateral testicular cancer in the referral center in Hungary was 3%. We could not identify clinical factors which predicted a higher risk for metachronous testicular cancer. With regular follow-up the early diagnosis of second testicular tumors is probable; therefore education, self-examination of the remaining testicle, and long-term follow-up are important in early detection.