Testicular Germ-Cell Tumours: A Descriptive Analysis of Clinical Characteristics at First Presentation.

INTRODUCTION

Clinical characteristics of testicular germ cell tumours (GCTs) apparently change over time, and some vary geographically. The aim of this study is to document the clinical profile of contemporary GCT patients.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Four hundred twenty-two Caucasian GCT-patients treated in one German centre during 2000-2017, were analysed in terms of patient-age, laterality, histology, tumour-size, clinical stages (CS), pathological (pT)-stages and serum biomarker expression. The results were analysed descriptively and compared with the literature.

RESULTS

Median age was 36 years and 60.2% had seminoma. Βeta-human chorionic gonadotropin was expressed in 37.9% and alpha Fetoprotein in 25.6%. CS1 presenting stage was 66.6% of all GCT patients, 79.1% in seminoma, and 47.6% in nonseminoma. Tumour size was significantly associated with pT-stages and CS. Patients >50 years had significantly more seminoma (77.6%) than younger ones (57.9%). Comparison with literature data revealed a shifting towards higher age, lower CS, higher proportion of seminoma and striking differences of characteristics among geographic regions.

CONCLUSIONS

A typical contemporary clinical profile of testicular GCTs is presented in this study. Median age, relative incidence of seminoma and proportion of CS1 appear to be increasing over time. Striking differences among ethnic groups regarding the characteristics of GCT require further investigation.