Incidence of Disease Outside Modified Retroperitoneal Lymph Node Dissection Templates in Clinical Stage I or IIA Nonseminomatous Germ Cell Testicular Cancer

Abstract

A significant number of men with clinical stage I to IIA nonseminomatous germ cell tumors and retroperitoneal metastases have disease present outside the limits of modified templates, including 20% to 30% with chemoresistant teratomatous elements. The data suggest that more extensive nerve sparing templates optimize oncological efficacy and ejaculation preservation, and minimize overall treatment morbidity.