Testicular Yolk Sac Tumor in Children : Report of Six Cases

Abstract

We describe our experience with 6 children with testicular yolk sac tumor (YST) treated in the past 12 years. The age of patients ranged from 4 months to 27 months with an average of 15 months. Hydrocele testis occurred in 2 cases. In 4 cases the tumor was located in the right testis, and in the other 2 cases in the left. All patients underwent high orchiectomy as the initial treatment. Four patients presented with Stage I disease and the remainder presented with Stage III 0 or Stage IIIB disease. All patients were free of evidence of disease after a mean follow-up period of 4.8 years. Three patients received platinum-based combination chemotherapy. In conclusion, high orchiectomy alone seems adequate for Stage I testicular YST. Post-operative chemoprevention is likely to be required, if tumor cell invasion into vessels is histologically revealed in the resected specimen. Serial monitoring of the AFP degradation curve plays an important role in the management of post-operative testicular YST. Patients with metastatic disease or recurrent disease can be treated successfully with platinumbased combination chemotherapy.