Prognostic value of tumor marker determinations in testicular cancer patients

This report is based on the observation of 109 patients with testicular cancer over a period of 6 years. At the time of orchiectomy metastases were present in 54 patients. In 13 patients with an initially nonmetastatic disease, secondaries occurred later. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of serum levels of human chorionic gonadotropin (beta-HCG) and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) in the prognosis for achieving a complete remission. The importance of serial serum AFP and beta-HCG determinations for the early detection of tumor metastases was also evaluated. Remission rates were lowered significantly in patients with serum AFP levels above 500 micrograms/liter (8%, P less than 0.0005) and serum beta-HCG concentrations exceeding 5,000 U/liter (27%, P less than 0.05). For an early detection of metastases the best results (efficiency 0.92) were achieved with the combination of beta-HCG with AFP and X-ray examination of the chest.