Prognosis of patients after retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy for clinical stage I nonseminomatous germ cell tumour of the testis.

A retrospective analysis of patients with the clinical stage I nonseminomatous germ cell tumour of the testis was performed in order to test the reliability of clinical diagnostic methods in assessing the extent of the disease, morbidity, relapse rate, and survival after retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy, and in an effort to pinpoint the risk factors leading to relapse. A total of 69 patients with clinical stage I nonseminomatous germ cell tumours of the testis underwent retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy. Metastases in the retroperitoneal space were found in 8 [11.6%] patients. Immediate postoperative complications were observed in 7.2% of patients. Loss of ejaculation was found in 52.9% of patients after bilateral, and in 21.4% after unilateral retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy. Relapse was noted in 5 out of 61 [8.2%] patients, with the relapse invariably localized in the lungs. Of the 69 patients, 65 [94.2%] are alive, free of signs of the disease at an average 5.4 years since initiation of treatment. The study did not find a correlation between relapse and histologic findings and/or the extent of the germ cell tumour.