Experience with Serum Alpha-Fetoprotein and Human Chorionic Gonadotropin in Non-Seminomatous Testicular Tumors

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Abstract
Serum levels of .alpha.-fetoprotein and human chorionic gonadotropin were used in the management of 50 consecutive patients with nonseminomatous germ cell tumors of the testis. Of the 50 patients, 36 had clinical or pathologic documentation of malignancy at some time during their treatment; 34 of these patients (94%) had elevated levels of 1 or both of the markers. The marker(s) was elevated before lymphadenectomy in 9 of 15 patients (60%) with clinical stage A or B disease who had not been cured by orchiectomy. Among patients with pathologic stage B disease, elevated marker levels before or after lymphadenectomy were of no prognostic significance. All of the patients with stage C disease had elevated marker(s); the effectiveness of chemotherapy in destroying measurable disease generally was reflected in the marker levels.