A lesson in the management of testicular cancer in a patient with a solitary testis

Five per cent of patients with germ cell tumours of the testis will develop a further tumour in the contralateral testis. Standard treatment in such c ases is a second orchidectomy, resulting in infertility, hormone replacemen t, and psychological morbidity. In this case report we explore the role of testis conservation in these patients and also show that there is a risk of removing a potentially normal testis if a histological diagnosis is not so ught prior to orchidectomy.