[Treatment of subdiaphragmatic lymph node metastases of primary testicular seminoma (stage II)].

From January 1968 through December 1985, 123 patients with subdiaphragmatic lymph node metastases from testicular seminoma were observed. Eighty-five patients presented with metastases not bigger than 5 cm (stage II low), and they were all treated with radiotherapy (target dose: 35-45 Gy). Out of 38 patients with advanced retroperitoneal disease (because of metastases bigger than 5 cm: stage II, bulky), 18 were treated with radiotherapy, 14 with chemotherapy, and 6 with combined radiotherapy and chemotherapy; moreover, 14 out of 38 patients underwent surgical treatment (whole/partial lymph node resection). Actuarial relapse-free survival rate has proven higher for "low" patients than for "bulky" ones, both at 5 years (85.4% versus 75.8%) and at 10 years (83.5% versus 75.8%). On the contrary, overall survival has been higher for "low" patients at short-term follow-up only (90.4% vs 83.9% at 5 years), while long-term follow-up (10 years) has proven the same in both groups. Relapses (22 cases) occurred within 2 years in 75% of cases, and within 3 years in 90%. Overall incidence of lymph node recurrence has been 10.6%, higher in "bulky" patients (13.3% if treated with radiotherapy alone and 21.4% if treated with chemotherapy and/or surgery). Distant metastases occurred in 8.1% of cases. Long-term salvage treatment by chemotherapy was performed on 1/13 failures in stage II "low" patients and in 3/9 failures in stage II "bulky" patients. Four patients underwent effective salvage therapy in the "low" group, 3 by radiotherapy and 1 by surgery. The authors stress how curative radiotherapy appears to be the best treatment for retroperitoneal lymph node metastases less than 5 cm diameter, while chemotherapy is still to be demonstrated to yield better results than radiotherapy as first treatment for patients with advanced abdominal disease.