What are germ cell tumors?

➢ Subclassified into seminomas and nonseminomatous ➢ Seminomas remain confined to the testis for a long time and spread mainly to paraaortic nodes; distant spread is rare ➢ Nonseminomatous tumors tend to spread earlier, by both lymphatics and blood vessels ➢ Pure (Composed of a single histologic type) ➢ Mixed (seen in 40% of cases) ➢ Painless testicular mass ➢ Nontranslucent (unlike enlargements caused by hydroceles) ➢ Biopsy of a testicular neoplasm is associated with a risk for tumor spillage, which would necessitate excision of the scrotal skin in addition to orchiectomy ➢ Standard management of a solid testicular mass is radical orchiectomy, based on the presumption of malignancy