[Germ-cell tumors of the testis]

Testis tumours constitute only 1% of all male tumours, but are the commonest neoplasia from 20 to 35 years of age. Their relative rarity, the shyness of patients and doctors, and the fact that tumours in general are not common in young adults, all contribute to frequent delays in diagnosis. Fantastic therapeutic advances have been made in the last decades, making long term survival achievable in more than 90% of patients. Nevertheless, the delays in diagnosis lead to an increase in treatment associated morbidity. In this article, the authors present the main aspects of etiopathogenesis, histopathology, diagnosis and treatment of testis tumours.