Bilateral testicular germ cell tumors (TGCT) prevalence: The 24-year-long single-center experience.

Abstract

e15031 Background: Theetiology andreliable biomarkers for the risk of bilateral TGCT are still under investigation. Long-term relapse risks of up to 20 years after the therapy in contralateral testes demand a specific model of surveillance. Due to the rarity of the tumor type, reports of national experiences of bilateral TGCT are of a crucial significance for a future global database. Methods: The study was conducted during the treatment of 1 823 patients with TGCT in a single center from 1987-2011. Their mean age was 24 years at the time of diagnosis. Results: Out of 1 823 patients diagnosed with TGCT, 33 developed the bilateral disease (1.81%), 11 of them had synchronous tumors (33%). In the rest of patients the second testicular tumor was diagnosed 1 to 17 years after the initial diagnosis. The mean age of patients with bilateral TGCT was 28. According to the histological type: 11 were seminoma, 14 non-seminoma and 8 mixed seminoma and non-seminoma. Seven patients with bilateral tumor had a seminoma component at initial diagnosis. Compared to 5 patients out of 11 with synchronous tumor, the yolk sac component was detected only in 2 out of 22 metachronous patients. Conclusions: The presented findings of bilateral TGCT prevalence (1.8%) are in concordance with similar previous studies. As this type of tumor may be effectively treated, the risk assessment of metachronous tumor development should in future be facilitated by new biomarkers based on omics techniques. Thus, the investigation of karyotyping, c-KIT and transcriptome specificities will contribute to elucidation which pathways contribute to germ cell neoplasms. The stem cell markers for pluripotency maintenance may in future become potential diagnostic markers used as predictors for metastatic germ cell tumors. The development of a global database on these rare tumors will be of a crucial importance.