Has lymphography a role in early stage testicular germ cell tumours?

A retrospective study was performed of 183 newly diagnosed seminoma cases and 73 newly diagnosed non-seminomatous germ cell tumours (NSGCT) presenting from 1985 to 1989 to a tertiary referral cancer hospital. The purpose was to assess the contribution of bipedal lymphography (LG) to the management of these patients. As the main value of LG is in detecting small retroperitoneal lymph node (LN) metastases, analysis concentrated upon early stage disease, specifically N0 and N1a LN disease. Comparison between LG results, abdominopelvic computed tomography (APCT), final clinical stage and treatment outcome was performed. We found that with the LG and APCT criteria used (filling defects > 2 mm and LN diameter > 20 mm, respectively), LG was much more sensitive in disease detection. However, with modern techniques APCT can reliably detect disease 10 mm or greater. In addition, tumour marker status, primary tumour vascular invasion status and initial clinical examination were each more important in staging NSGCT disease than LG alone. Thus, LG is now rarely used in our institution but we will have to monitor our excellent survival data to confirm that this change in policy is warranted.