Testicular cancer: what staging investigations are indicated?

Abstract

To appropriately treat patients with testicular cancer, accurate staging is mandatory. This manuscript addresses appropriate tumor markers, retroperitoneal imaging, chest imaging, and careful analysis of the histopathology of the primary tumor. All of these facets can be combined to generate a reasonably accurate clinical staging of an individual's testicular tumor. Even with all of these modalities, however, some clinical staging error still exists and cannot be reduced to zero. Classification of individual patients by stage is essential for decisions about therapeutic options.