RADIOTHERAPY FOR STAGE-I AND STAGE-II TESTICULAR SEMINOMA AFTER ORCHIECTOMY

A retrospective study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of irradia tion on 65 patients with stage I or II testicular seminomas treated at Hillbrow Hospital with irradiation following orchidectomy. Forty-seve n patients presented with stage I and 9 with stage II disease. AII pat ients received infradiaphragmatic irradiation. In addition 4 patients with stage II disease received prophylactic supradiaphragmatic irradia tion. The 5-year overall and disease-free survival rate for all stages and for stage I and II compared favourably with other reports in the literature. The irradiation was well tolerated and severe long-term to xicity was rare. Seminomas were uncommon in black patients, of whom on ly 3 were seen in the 12-year period of this study.