Most commonly presents as a painless testicular mass or induration
Occurs most often in young and middle-aged men, ie age 15-40 years
Highly treatable disease with a high cure rate; survival rate in 5 years is >95%
Pathophysiology
Testicular primary germ cell tumors (GCT) coming from the malignant transformation of primordial germ cells make up 95% of all testicular cancer; approximately 5% are extragonadal germ cell tumors (EGGCT) and are found midline in the body, eg cerebrum, mediastinum or retroperitoneum
Pathognomonic for GCT is the isochromosome of the short arm of chromosome 12 [i(12p)]
Risk Factors
Risk factors include:
Cryptorchidism – abdominal cryptorchid testes have a higher risk than inguinal cryptorchid testes
Family history of testicular cancer in 1st-degree relatives (father or brother)
Personal history of testicular cancer
Presence of contralateral tumor or testicular germ cell neoplasia in situ (GCNIS)
