Failure patterns of nonseminomatous testicular germ cell tumors: radiographic analysis of 51 cases.

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Abstract
A retrospective analysis was performed of 51 consecutive cases of treatment failure (tumor recurrence) of nonseminomatous germ cell tumors. Twelve patients with clinical stage I disease relapsed after lymph node dissection; 39 with stage II or III disease relapsed after chemotherapy. Routine follow-up consisted of monthly chest radiography and determination of serum tumor marker levels (.alpha.-fetoprotein and human chorionic gonadotropin), as well as abdominal computed tomography every 6 months. The median recurrence interval was 3 months; 96% of the relapses occurred within 2 years. In 61% of patients, recurrence was in the initial disease site only, in 26% it was in both new and initial sites, and in 13% it was in new sites only.l At the time of treatment failure, 47 (92%) of the patients had positive radiologic studies and 44 (86%) had positive serum marker levels. Nine (18%) had positive radiologic studies only, and four (8%) had positive serum marker levels only. The analysis demonstrated the complementary role of radiologic studies and serum tumor-marker assays in detecting treatment failure.