Adjuvant chemotherapy in stage I and stage II testicular cancer.

Adjuvant chemotherapy in low-stage testis cancer is an accepted treatment option for two clinical situations: (1) chemotherapy after complete removal of the primary tumor by orchidectomy without clinical evidence of metastasis (clinical stage I), and (2) chemotherapy after complete surgical removal of non-seminomatous retroperitoneal metastases up to 5 cm in greatest transverse diameter by retroperitoneal lymph node dissection in clinical stage II. Aim of treatment is the prevention of tumor recurrences. The risk of recurrence depends on the type and stage of disease and ranges from 16% (clinical stage I seminoma) to 50% (pathological stage II B non-seminoma). Thus, 50-84% of patients receive adjuvant treatment unnecessarily. Prognostic factors have been developed in each tumor entity to tailor treatment to patients with high risk of recurrence.