Distribution of Testicular Tumors in Lebanon: A Single Institution Overview

Abstract

<b>Background:</b> Testicular tumors constitute a rare type of cancer affecting adolescents and young adultswith recent reports confirming an increase in incidence worldwide. The purpose of this study was to estimatethe epidemiological characteristics and histological subtypes of testicular tumors in the Lebanese populationaccording to the WHO classification of testicular and paratesticular tumors. Materials and <br/><b>Methods</b>: In thissingle institutional retrospective study, all patients diagnosed with a testicular tumor in Hotel-Dieu de FranceHospital University in Beirut between 1992 and 2014 were enrolled. The age, subtype based on the 2004 WHOclassification and body side of tumor were analyzed. <br/><b>Results</b>: A total of two hundred and forty-four (244) patientsdiagnosed with a testicular tumor in our institution were included in the study. Two hundred and one patients(82.4% of all testicular tumors) had germ cell tumors (TGCT). Among TGCT, 50% were seminomatous tumors,48% non-seminomatous tumors (NST) and 2% were spermatocytic seminomas. The NST were further dividedinto mixed germ cell tumors (63.9%), embryonic carcinomas (18.6%), teratomas (15.4%) and yolk sac tumors(2.1%). The mean age for testicular tumors was 32 years. The mean age for germ cell tumors was 31 years andfurther subtypes such as seminomatous tumors had a mean age of 34 years, 28 years in non-seminomatous tumorsand 56 years in spermatocytic seminoma. Patients with right testicular tumor were the predominant group with55% of patients. Three patients (1.2%) presented with bilateral tumors. <br/><b>Conclusions</b>: The distribution of differentsubgroups and the mean age for testicular tumors proved comparable to most countries of the world except forsome Asian countries. Germ cell tumors are the most common subtype of testicular tumors with seminomatoustumors being slightly more prevalent than non-seminomatous tumors in Lebanese patients.