The role of chemotherapy and surgery in the treatment of retroperitoneal metastases in advanced nonseminomatous testis cancer

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
This study evaluates the effect of combination chemotherapy on retroperitoneal metastases from nonseminomatous germ cell tumors of the testis (NSGCTT). Sixty-six patients with Stage III or bulky Stage II NSGCTT with clinically documented retroperitoneal metastases first received systemic chemotherapy. Seventeen patients had minimal and 49 had advanced retroperitoneal metastases. The retroperitoneal metastases were classified as advanced if the patient had a palpable retroperitoneal mass, ureteral deviation on intravenous pyelogram, or a mass with a diameter ≥ 5 cm documented by a computerized axial tomographic scan, a pedal lymphangiogram, or surgery. The patients with lesser but clinically evident retroperitoneal metastatic deposits were considered to have minimal retroperitoneal metastases. A complete remission of retroperitoneal metastatic deposits was achieved in 50 (76%) patients, with chemotherapy alone in 25 (38%), and with combined chemotherapy and surgery in 25 (38%). The resected deposits consisted of mature teratoma in 15 and malignant elements in 10. A complete remission using chemotherapy alone occurred in 13 of 17 (76%) with minimal and in 12/49 (24%) with advanced retoperitoneal metastases, and in 17/30 (57%) without and 8/36 (22%) with teratoma in the testis tumor. The data strongly implied that the bulk of the metastatic deposits was a more important prognostic variable than the histology of the primary tumor. The adverse relationship of a teratomatous differentiation on the response rates with chemotherapy alone was offset by the success of supplemental surgery. This study suggests the benefit of a postchemotherapy retroperitoneal lymph node dissection (RPLND) in patients with initially bulky retroperitoneal metastases (complete response [CR] increased from 24% to 67%; an additional 47% patients had no evidence of disease). The patients with minimal retroperitoneal metastases usually achieved a CR with chemotherapy alone. A routine RPLND after the chemotherapy is not indicated in patients with initially minimal retroperitoneal metastases.