Clinicopathological Features and Survival of Young Turkish Patients with Testicular Germ Cell Tumors

Abstract

<b>Background:</b> Testicular germ cell tumors (TGCTs) are a relatively common malignancy in young men. Theaim of this study was to investigate the clinicopathological features and survival of young Turkish patientswith TGCT. Materials and <br/><b>Methods</b>: In this retrospective study, the clinical and pathological characteristics ofyoung Turkish patients with TGCT who were monitored by the Department of Medical Oncology of a militaryhospital between 2008 and 2013 were investigated. Overall survival data were analyzed. <br/><b>Results</b>: Ninety-sixpatients were included in the study. The mean age was 26.4 years. Among the patients, 17.7% had seminomaand 43.8% had mixed non-seminomatous germ cell tumors. Some 46.9% were Stage I, 30.2% were Stage II, and22.9 were Stage III. Of the patients, 83.3% received chemotherapy, 25% underwent retroperitoneal lymph nodedissection (RPLND), 3.1% received radiotherapy, and 12.5% were followed-up without treatment. In addition,18.8% of the patients were administered salvage chemotherapy due to relapse or progression. The 5-year overallsurvival rate was 90.2% for all patients. The 2-year overall survival rate was 100% for Stage I patients, 94%for Stage II patients, and 70.2% for Stage III patients. The difference between the survival curves of stages wasstatistically significant (p=0.029). <br/><b>Conclusions</b>: In young Turkish patients with TGCT, good results were obtainedwith appropriate treatment, most receiving chemotherapy. The prognosis of the disease was good even in theadvanced stage.