Stage I seminoma recurrences in patients admitted to radiotherapy clinic of Shohada hospital between 1991 and 2002

Introduction: Currently, cancers are among the important and main problems of health system in Iran and around the world. In young men under 20 to 35 years of age, malignant masses of testis are the most common tumours. The main pathologic feature of these masses is germ cell tumour and about half of them are seminoma. Since seminoma is very prevalent in the forth decade, being affected with this tumour leads to losing many years of healthy life. Method: In a cross sectional study, investigating 139 records of patients with testis tumour revealed 61 patients with stage-1 seminoma. Thirty three patients underwent para-aortic and unilateral pelvic irradiation (54%) while 28 patients only underwent para-aortic irradiation (46%). The administered radiotherapy dosage varied between 25-40 Gy. Results: Mean age of the patients was 37.8 of whom the youngest was 15 and the oldest was 64 years of age. Only one recurrent patient was seen in this cohort who was in para-aortic group. There was no significant difference in recurrence rate between the two radiotherapy methods. (p= 0.7). Conclusion: Considering fewer complications of para-aortic irradiation and the insignificant difference in the recurrence rate between the two methods of radiotherapy, para-aortic method could be more appropriate and acceptable in the treatment of testicular cancer.