testicular cancers:Cancer Treatment

Cancer Treatment
No one treatment works for all testicular cancers. Seminomas and nonseminomas differ in their tendency to spread, their patterns of spread, and response to radiation therapy. Thus, they often require different treatment strategies, which doctors choose based on the type of tumor and the stage of disease.

Because they are slow growing and tend to stay localized, seminomas generally are diagnosed in stage 1 or 2. Treatment might be a combination of testicle removal, radiation, or chemotherapy. But surgical removal of lymph nodes usually is not necessary for seminoma patients because this type of tumor is what the University of Pennsylvania's Malkowicz calls "exquisitely sensitive" to radiation. Normally directed to the retroperitoneal lymph nodes but sometimes to other lymph nodes, radiation can effectively remove cancer cells there. Stage 3 seminomas are usually treated with multidrug chemotherapy.

Though most nonseminomas are not diagnosed at an early stage, cases confined to the testicle may need no further treatment other than testicle removal. These men must have careful follow-up for at least two years because about 10 percent of stage 1 patients have recurrences, which then are treated with chemotherapy. Stage 2 nonseminoma patients who have had testicle and lymph node removal may also need no further therapy. Some doctors opt for a short course of multidrug chemotherapy for stage 2 patients to reduce the risk of recurrence. Most stage 3 nonseminomas can be cured with drug combinations.
by John Henkel....http://www.fda.gov