Adjuvant chemotherapy for stage II nonseminomatous germ cell cancer of the testis

The success of chemotherapy for Stage III testicular carcinoma warranted its use as an adjuvant therapy for Stage II cancer. The current report reflects the adjuvant program begun at the University of Minnesota using four courses of vinblastine, bleomycin, and cisplatin (VBP) before the onset of the Testicular Cancer Intergroup Study using two courses of chemotherapies.

A review of 78 patients with Stage II nonseminomatous germ cell tumors treated between 1972 and 1986 defined three groups: 19 patients treated between 1972 and 1979 with various adjuvant chemotherapies (termed "other"), 37 patients treated from 1975 to 1986 with VBP adjuvant chemotherapy, and 21 patients who received no therapy during the same era of VBP. The latter group was not offered adjuvant chemotherapy at other institutions or declined therapy.

Nineteen patients received adjuvant chemotherapy before the cisplatin era. Their survival rate was 42%, including two patients treated with cisplatin-based chemotherapy for recurrence. In the group of 21 patients who did not receive adjuvant therapy, 14 (66.7%) survived. Of these, five had no recurrence and nine were treated for recurrence. In a third group, adjuvant VBP therapy was given to 37 patients, 32 of whom received four full courses. There have been no recurrences, and 36 (97.3%) remain alive; one obese patient with hypertension died of a ruptured aortic aneurysm 12.9 years after the retroperitoneal lymph node dissection. Nodal involvement was more extensive in the VBP group.

Four courses of VBP adjuvant chemotherapy for pathologic Stage II testicular cancer resulted in a 100% cure rate, all patients having been followed up for more than 6 years. Whether two courses are as adequate remains to be determined when long-term follow-up is reported.