Surgical aspects in the treatment of patients with testicular cancer.

We sit at a crossroads in the therapeutic treatment of patients with low-stage testicular cancer. The luxury of effective chemotherapy has allowed achievement of virtually 100% survival rates in patients with low-stage testicular cancer. The goal of urologists and oncologists in concert should be to minimize the long-term morbidity and to reduce the amount of therapy necessary to achieve these high survival rates. Patients with a low risk of lymphatic or disseminated metastases, such as those with low-stage tumors, without vascular invasion and with favorable histologic features (teratoma), are clearly candidates for observation protocols to be carried out in well-defined centers. It should be emphasized, however, that observation needs to be an active surveillance program for a minimum of 2 to 3 years after orchiectomy, with frequent chest roentgenography, tumor marker studies, and CT scanning. In the majority of patients with low-stage tumors, however, modified retroperitoneal lymph node dissection allows definitive staging, thus allowing treatment with a lesser amount of chemotherapy. Patients with bulky stage II disease require chemotherapy in hopes of avoiding the need for retroperitoneal lymph node dissection. In the group of patients with stage II disease with minimal retroperitoneal involvement (less than 3 cm in maximal diameter, stage IIA), approximately half of the patients can be treated by surgical approaches alone, although half will require postoperative chemotherapy. Testicular cancer at this time is one of the most successfully treated solid tumors. Although diagnostic tools are available, successful diagnosis still relies upon suspicion and physical findings. Staging techniques have improved but still have vast limitations, especially in patients with low-stage disease. By careful application of multimodal therapy, long-term survival and cure are likely in the majority of patients. Continued long-term observation is necessary, however, especially in patients with residual teratoma that has been resected. As we look to the 1990s, emphasis can be placed on finding less morbid treatments yet still maintaining the high success rates enjoyed in the treatment of this once nearly uniformly fatal tumor.