Testicular carcinoma in patients positive and at risk for human immunodeficiency virus

Patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome are at increased risk for certain malignancies. Because acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and testicular cancer affect primarily young men, the potential complications that acquired immunodeficiency syndrome might impose raise significant concern. To address this question we performed a retrospective review of all cases of testicular cancer during an 11-year period. Of 140 patients 6 had human immunodeficiency virus infection and 7 were from human immunodeficiency virus risk groups. All cases were either stage I or II disease with seminoma in 8, teratocarcinoma in 3, embryonal cell carcinoma in 1 and teratoma in 1. The clinical presentations of these patients were comparable to those of patients without human immunodeficiency virus risk factors. The majority of the patients received standard therapy, including orchiectomy followed by lymphadenectomy, radiation therapy or chemotherapy depending on stage and pathological subtype. Patients tolerated therapy well with only 1 course of radiation therapy complicated by Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. All patients achieved complete remission and none died of testicular cancer. Since treatment of these patients may worsen the immunosuppression, surveillance is recommended after orchiectomy for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome patients with stage I disease. However, the majority of patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection should receive standard therapy.