title: [Synchronous and metachronous bilateral tumors of the testis: a single institution experience of 11 cases and review of the literature].
abstract: Bilateral testicular tumors represent a very rare event and account for 2.7% of all testicular neoplasms. 15% of bilateral testicular tumors occurs simultaneously in both testicles, but in 85% of cases the second neoplasia appears in the remaining testicles of patients affected by unilateral testicular tumor after a very variable period of time. The aim of this work was to value our experience on 11 cases of bilateral testis tumors: six arised simultaneously in both gonads (five germ cell tumors and one Leydig cell tumor) and five with metachronous appearance (all germ cell tumors). A comprehensive valuation has been made considering other cases reported in literature until 1996, in order to identify predisposing conditions to bilateral disease. Examining separately synchronous and metachronous neoplasms, as far as we know, only 218 cases of simultaneous bilateral testicular tumors are reported in literature, and most of them are pure seminomas; however, after 1988 this result has been reversed in favour of neoplasms with non-seminomatous elements: this data suggests inadequate classification in the past. Moreover, considering 243 cases of metachronous neoplasms, 126 of them (51.9%) began as non-seminomatous tumors: this disagrees with an old belief that patients affected by seminoma are more prone to develop a second tumor in the remaining testicle. It has been also possible to confirm that testis sparing surgery allows to maintain both fertility and endocrinous function. This technique can be used in any potentially benign neoplasms (as Leydig cell tumors) while the same treatment modality, although already reported in literature, needs more experience to be considered as a successful therapy for germinal tumors.
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Urologia dell'Università di Padova.
authors.forename: I M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Tavolini
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Oliva
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Nigro
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Dal Moro
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zuliani
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Norcen
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mazzariol
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pagano
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D018237:Germinoma / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007984:Leydig Cell Tumor / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D018239:Seminoma / Q000473:pathology; D013736:Testicular Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*
vernacular_title: I tumori bilaterali del testicolo sincroni e metacroni: esperienza di un singolo Centro Urologico su 11 casi e revisione della letteratura.