Readressing the rationale of irradiation in stage I seminoma guidelines: a critical essay

Patterns of Disease Progression and Outcome of Patients With Testicular Seminoma Who Relapse After Adjuvant or Curative Radiation Therapy

PURPOSE

Radiation therapy is a possible treatment strategy for patients with testicular seminoma after orchiectomy in clinical stage I or II disease. Little is known about the outcome of patients who experience a relapse after radiation therapy.

METHODS AND MATERIALS

Data from 61 patients who relapsed after adjuvant or curative radiation therapy from 17 centers in 11 countries were collected and retrospectively analyzed. Primary outcomes were disease-free and overall survival. Secondary outcomes were time to relapse, stage at relapse, treatment for relapse, and rate of febrile neutropenia during chemotherapy for relapse.

RESULTS

With a median follow-up of 9.9 years (95% confidence interval [CI], 7.5-10.9), we found a 5-year disease-free survival of 90% (95% CI, 79-95) and a 5-year overall survival of 98% (95% CI, 89-100). Sixty-six percent of patients had stage III disease at time of relapse and 93% of patients fell into the good prognosis group per the International Germ Cell Cancer Collaborative Group classification. The median time to relapse after radiation therapy was 15.6 months (95% CI, 12-23). Twenty-two (36%) patients relapsed more than 2 years after radiation therapy and 7 (11.5%) patients relapsed more than 5 years after radiation therapy. One-third of relapses was detected owing to patients' symptoms, whereas two-thirds of relapses were detected during routine follow-up. The majority (93%) of cases were treated with cisplatin-based chemotherapy. The rate of febrile neutropenia during chemotherapy was 35%. Five patients experienced a second relapse. At last follow-up, 55 patients (90%) were alive without disease. Only 1 patient died owing to disease progression.

CONCLUSIONS

Cisplatin-based chemotherapy for patients with seminoma who have relapsed after treatment with radiation therapy alone leads to excellent outcomes. Patients and physicians should be aware of possible late relapses after radiation therapy.

Clinical characteristics of testicular seminoma in individuals in West China: a 10-year follow-up study

Objective

To assess the clinical characteristics of testicular seminoma (TS).

Patients and methods

A testicular cancer (TC) survey was conducted by the Department of Urology, West China Hospital, between 2008 and 2018. Tumors were classified according to the NCCN criteria such as age, tumor size, tumor marker levels, histopathology, clinical stage, initial treatment, follow-up, and clinical outcomes, were obtained from the database of our center.

Results

Among 155 registered cases of TC with seminomatous element, 127 cases of pure TS were analyzed. All 127 patients with a median age of 37 years were pathologically diagnosed with orchiectomy specimens. Orchiectomy, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy were the main treatments for these patients. Patients with clinical stages I, II, and III testicular cancer of accounted for 81.1% (n=103), 15.7% (n=20), and 3.2% (n=4) of all patients, respectively. After a median follow-up time of 50 months, five patients presented with relapse during follow-up, and one among them died. Of the patients with stage I TS (T1N0M0S0 CS IA), three patients who only underwent orchiectomy relapsed. Among patients with stage II TS (T1N1M0S1 CS IIA), one patient relapsed after orchiectomy, post-surgery chemotherapy and radiotherapy. In four patients with stage III disease (T2N1M1aS1 CS IIIA), one relapsed after orchiectomy and chemotherapy, and died shortly after salvage chemotherapy and radiotherapy due to recurrence. The median overall survival time was 50 months. In all patients, the 2-year overall survival and progression-free survival probabilitis were 98.6% and 98.8%, respectively.

Conclusion

The present study shows that patients with TS have good prognosis even at an advanced stage. Surveillance after orchiectomy was important for patients with CSI seminoma, and we recommend cisplatin-based chemotherapy as salvage therapy for patients with CSI seminoma. In addition, patients with a maximal tumor diameter >4 cm should undergo post-surgery chemotherapy.