Radiation therapy of seminoma of the testis

✍ Scribed by Baby Jose; P. Lee Perkins; Howard Kays; Ann M. Chu; Subhash C. Sharma

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1985
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 243 KB
• Volume: 28
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0022-4790
• DOI: 10.1002/jso.2930280102

✦ Synopsis

This study is a review of 66 patients with a diagnosis of testicular seminoma, treated at the Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Louisville, from 1959 to 1978. Sixty-four of the patients were diagnosed as pure seminomas and two as spermatocytic type. The age of the patients ranged from 16 to 75 years with a median of 39. Fifty-four patients (82%) presented with swelling or mass in the testis, 7 patients with pain, 1 patient with hydrocele, and 4 patients had seminoma diagnosed incidentally. The distribution was equal for both right and left sides. There were 39 (59%) and 27 (41 %) patients in stages I and 11, respectively. All stage I patients received only infradiaphragmatic irradiation by a "hockey stick" field, and the majority of them received a dose of 3,200 -3,600 rads in 3-4 weeks time. Stage I1 patients received elective irradiation to the mediastinum and neck region, in addition to the infradiaphragmatic irradiation.

The 5-year actuarial survival rates for stage I and I1 seminomas are 96% and 92 % , respectively. There were no serious complications during follow-up. The role of elective irradiation in stage I disease is discussed with a brief review of the literature.