Type II germ cell cancers (GCC) can be subdivided into seminomas and non-seminomas. Seminomas are similar to carcinoma in situ (CIS) cells, the common precursor of type II GCCs, with regard to epigenetics and expression, while embryonal carcinomas (EC) are totipotent and differentiate into teratomas, yolk-sac tumors and choriocarcinomas. GCCs can present as seminomas with a non-seminoma compone...

We agree that physicians should choose active surveillance for their patients if they have the means to afford health insurance and are relatively stable within their careers. Prophylactic radiotherapy should be offered to patients who need a relaxed follow-up schedule for financial, emotional, or compliance reasons. For adjuvant carboplatin, longer follow-up data are needed to better define su...

Testicular seminoma: ESMO Clinical Practice Guidelines for diagnosis, treatment and follow-up H.-J. Schmoll, K. Jordan, R. Huddart, M. P. Laguna Pes, A. Horwich, K. Fizazi & V. Kataja On behalf of the ESMO Guidelines Working Group* Department of Oncology/Haematology/Haemostaseology, University Hospital Halle, Halle, Germany; Department of Academic Radiotherapy, Institute of Cancer Research, Roy...

BACKGROUND Seminomas have been rarely associated with malignant hypercalcemia. The responsible mechanism of hypercalcemia in this setting has been described to be secondary to 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D secretion. The relationship with PTHrP has not been determined or studied.The aim of this study is to describe and discuss the case and the pathophysiological mechanisms involved in a malignant hyp...

Increasing rates of testicular germ cells tumors (TGCTs) overtime suggest that environmental factors are involved in disease etiology, but familial risk and genome-wide association studies implicate genetic factors as well. We investigated whether variation in the functional CAG(n) polymorphism in the androgen receptor (AR) gene is associated with TGCT risk, using data from a population-based f...

PURPOSE Despite the successful use of targeted and molecular therapies in other cancers, little progress has been made in the management of testicular germ cell tumors (TGCTs). c-kit (CD 117) is a good target for cancer treatment and possesses an impressive role in the current oncological practice. We aimed to evaluate c-kit expression in early stage TGCTs as a prognostic factor. METHODS Pati...

BACKGROUND About 3-5% of all patients with testicular germ cell tumour (GCT) develop a contralateral cancer, the majority of which arise within 10-15 years. Little is known about the risk of second GCTs after more than two decades. Here we present 3 cases with very late presenting contralateral GCT and provide a summary of similar cases reported previously. CASE PRESENTATIONS (1) This white C...

BACKGROUND Adjuvant radiotherapy is effective treatment for stage I seminoma, but is associated with a risk of late non-germ-cell cancer and cardiovascular events. After good results in initial studies with one injection of carboplatin, we undertook a large randomised trial to compare the approaches of radiotherapy with chemotherapy in seminoma treatment. METHODS Between 1996 and 2001, 1477 p...

It can no longer be doubted that under certain conditions diagnostic or surgical procedures can result in metastases. Analysis of metastatic growth rates has shown that from 30% (in hypernephroma) to 90% (in sarcoma and seminoma) of the diagnosed metastases were provoked by such procedures. This has been established by numerous animal experiments and clinical observations and necessitates a cha...