Objective: This study investigated the outcome of testicular cancer treatment in Finland.
Material and methods: Data on 88 testicular cancer patients treated in Turku University Central Hospital between 1976 and 1992 were studied to analyse outcome and survival.
Results: The histological diagnosis was seminoma for 39 patients and non-seminoma for 49 patients. Two seminoma patients relapsed (5%) and one patient died of progressive disease (3%; initially stage II seminoma). Eleven non-seminoma patients relapsed (22%), nine of whom were cured with chemotherapy. Four non-seminoma patients died of progressive disease (8%; initially one stage I non-seminoma and three stage III non-seminomas). The median time to relapse after the completion of treatment was 9 months (range 3-50 months). Non-seminoma patients had significantly more relapses than seminoma patients (p = 0.03). Most relapses (73% of the non-seminoma relapses) were found among the stage I non-seminoma patients who had not received adjuvant chemotherapy, while none of the stage I seminoma patients relapsed (p = 0.007).
Conclusions: Close surveillance is important for all non-seminoma patients to guarantee the early detection and treatment of recurrent disease. Treatment and surveillance should be covered by national guidelines and be conducted in centres with special interest in this rare but mostly curable cancer.