[Problems posed by successive bilateral cancers of the testicles]

Six new cases of bilateral sequential germ cell tumors of the testis are reported. They were observed between 1960 and 1980 among 161 cases of testicular cancers. The incidence was 3.7%. One patient showed atypical germ cells in a testicular biopsy specimen 8 months before the second tumor arose. The importance of the seminoma in situ as an increased risk of a second testicular tumor and specific modalities of diagnosis, therapy or prognosis are discussed. We insist on the need for an accurate and extended follow-up because the success in management depends primarily on early diagnosis.