Purpose: We investigate the results of a surveillance program for stage I nonseminomatous germ cell tumors to validate a surveillance policy, and furthermore improve it by analyzing diagnostic instruments and identifying prognostic factors for relapse.
Materials and methods: From 1982 to 1994, 90 patients with stage I nonseminomatous germ cell tumors entered a surveillance protocol after orchiectomy. Patients with relapse were treated with cisplatin based chemotherapy. A statistical analysis of possible prognostic factors for relapse was performed.
Results: Relapse occurred in 23 (26%) patients. Disease specific survival was 98.9%, and 1 patient died of tumor. Most relapses were located in retroperitoneal lymph nodes only (78%). Tumor markers were the most important indicators of relapse. However, in 22% of patients with relapse abdominal x-ray of lymphangiographic contrast showed the first sign of relapse. Computerized tomography located all but 1 relapse. Vascular invasion (p = 0.0001), tumor size (p = 0.0341) and presence of immature teratoma (p = 0.0154) were significantly predictive of relapse with the multivariate analysis, percentage embryonal carcinoma only by univariate analysis (p = 0.032). The relapse rate was highest (52%) when vascular invasion was present.
Conclusions: With surveillance for stage I nonseminomatous germ cell tumors, excellent treatment results can be achieved that are comparable to primary retroperitoneal lymph node dissection. Tumor markers and computerized tomography are highly reliable for detecting relapse. Lymphangiography is still of staging value. Pathological factors may influence the choice of adjuvant treatment. However, relapse risks of 50% to 60% are maximally achieved with presently available prognostic factors, and so sparing morbidity of adjuvant treatment by a surveillance protocol remains a feasible option even in these patients.