Western and eastern European trends in testicular cancer mortality.

Testicular cancer is curable if treated appropriately. We used national mortality data to compare specific death rates from the disorder in western and eastern Europe, the USA, and Japan. Testicular cancer mortality rates have fallen by about 70% in the USA and western Europe since the 1970s. In eastern Europe, however, death rates from testicular cancer have been declining only since the late 1980s, and at a much slower rate than that recorded elsewhere (about 20%). Consequently, many avoidable deaths, mainly in young adults, are still occurring in eastern Europe. Available effective treatment strategies for testicular cancer must be implemented in these countries.