Orchidectomy followed by radiotherapy in 176 stage I and II testicular seminoma patients: benefits of a 10-year follow-up study

Abstract

Results are presented for 176 patients with stage I and II primary testicular seminoma treated at the Dr. Daniel den Hoed Cancer Center (DDHCC) between 1975 and 1985. The median follow-up time was 7 years and 4 months. One-hundred and seventy-four (99%) of these patients were treated primarily with radiotherapy after extensive staging. According to the Royal Marsden Staging Classification, 132 patients (75%) were stage I, 8 (5%) were stage IIA, 21 (12%) were stage IIB, 9 (5%) were stage IIC and for 6 stage II patients a further subdivision was not possible. At 5 years the actuarial relapse-free survival and the actuarial survival were 95 and 99%, respectively, for stage I, and 77 and 91% for stage II. Prophylactic irradiation of the mediastinum has not been performed for stage II patients. Five stage II patients relapsed in the mediastinum. Four out of these five relapses were cured with chemotherapy, and in one case, in combination with radiotherapy, at the time of relapse. These results indicated that prophylactic irradiation of the mediastinum appeared to be unnecessary for stage II patients. Tumour markers were not useful in the discovery of metastases. Five years after treatment no relapses were seen. Therefore, it is proposed that a maximum follow-up of 5 years is sufficient to measure disease-free survival.