BACKGROUND:

Testicular cancer is the most frequent malignant process in males between 15 and 35 years of age. A history of germ cell testicular tumor is the main risk factor for presenting with contralateral testicular cancer. AIM: To describe the clinical and histopathologic characteristics of patients with synchronous or metachronous bilateral testicular tumors.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

A retrospective, descriptive, crosssectional study was conducted on patients diagnosed with testicular tumor, seen at the Urology Division of the Hospital General “Dr. Manuel Gea González” within the time frame of January 1989 and January 2016. The demographic, clinical, and histopathologic characteristics of those patients were evaluated through a descriptive analysis.

RESULTS:

The study included 346 patients with testicular cancer, 9 (2.6%) of whom presented with bilateral tumors and had a mean age of 40.2 years: 7 (77.7%) of those patients had synchronous tumors and 2 (22.2%) had metachronous tumors. The reported histopathologic types were classic seminoma in 5 (55.5%) patients, lymphoma in 2 (22.2%) patients, mixed germ cell in 1 (11.1%) patient, and spermatocytic seminoma in 1 (11.1%) patient. All 9 patients (100%) underwent bilateral orchiectomy, 8 (88.8%) of the patients had neoadjuvant treatment with chemotherapy, and 6 (66.6%) of the patients accepted hormone therapy.

CONCLUSIONS:

Bilateral testicular tumors are rare. Once the diagnosis is made, management should be multidisciplinary (urologist/ oncologist). Regardless of bilaterality, outcome depends on tumor type and stage. The cure rate is high in the majority of cases.

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