The aim of the present study is to prospectively investigate the presentation of germ cell testicular tumors (GCCTs) in terms of clinical stage (CS) or histology, as the incidence of this malignancy in increasing. Patients diagnosed with GCTTS between 1976 and 2005 were categorized into 3 period depending on date of diagnosis of GCTTs and presentation characteristics assessed. For purpose of analysis patients were assigned into 1 of 3 similar groups in term of duration (10 years) (1976-1985, 1986-1995, 1996-2005). These 3 periods were compared statistically to identify the possible changes in the presentation of GCTTs. Among 1935 patients, the number diagnosed in each period was 111 (6%), 695 (36%) and 1129 (58%), respectively. There was substantial rise in the percentage of patients with GCTTs during the period of 30 years, particularly in 3rd vs. 2nd and 1st decade (P<0.0001). Overall, 46% of patients were diagnosed with seminoma and 54% with nonseminoma. The greater proportion of the entire cohort of patients presented in CS I (65%). Also, seminoma and nonseminoma occurred more frequently in CS I (78% and 51%, respectively). The median (range) age of the whole cohort of patients was 34 (14-80) years. The median age for developing metastatic seminoma was 4 years more than in CS I disease (38 vs. 42 years, respectively), while the median age for the presentation of CS I and metastatic nonseminoma was identical (31 years). The proportion of seminoma increased significantly in time (40% vs 55%) and this was accompanied by a significant decrease of nonseminoma (60% vs. 45%)(P<0.001). The proportion of patients in CS I disease also increased significantly with time (45% vs. 77%), while the proportion of patients with metastatic disease decreased (55% vs. 23%)(P<0.001). There was a significant rise in proportion of patients with CS I seminoma (27% vs. 47%) (P<0.001) and nonseminoma (18% vs. 30%) (P<0.001), accompanied by a significant decrease in the proportion of patients presenting with metastatic nonseminoma (46% vs. 15%)(P<0.0001). However, the proportion of patients with metastatic seminoma remained largery unchanged (13% vs. 9%). The present study shows a progressive increase of GCTTs during the observation period of 30 years, with increase in the proportion of patients with GCTTs confined to the testis, as opposed to metastatic disease. The other finding is that there has been an increase in the proportion of patients presenting with seminoma rather than nonseminoma. The reason for this remain unclear and require further investigation.

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.