Survival of testicular cancer patients in Osaka, Japan.
BACKGROUND
Testicular cancer is one of those cancers for which the prognosis has improved remarkably since the introduction of effective chemotherapy.


METHODS
Study subjects were 709 testicular cancer patients who were registered to the population-based Osaka Cancer Registry (OCR) as diagnosed between 1975 and 1992. The testicular cancer patients diagnosed/treated in the Osaka Medical Center for Cancer and Cardiovascular Diseases (OMCC) were also analyzed for comparison.


RESULTS
The 5-year relative survival was 75.2% for the total of 709 patients and 77.9% for those diagnosed during 1990-92. These figures were much lower than those for patients in the USA and in Europe. In contrast, the 5-year survival of the 113 patients diagnosed in the OMCC during 1975-93 was 91.5% and similar to those in the USA and in Europe.


CONCLUSIONS
The present study suggests that there are problems in the speed and extent of diffusion of effective chemotherapy for testicular cancer in Osaka.
Oshima
A
A
Department of Cancer Control and Statistics, Osaka Medical Center for Cancer and Cardiovascular Diseases, Osaka, Japan.
Kitagawa
T
T
Ajiki
W
W
Tsukuma
H
H
Takenaka
S
S
Iura
A
A
D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D012042:Registries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015996:Survival Rate; D013736:Testicular Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology