Teratoma

Researchers from University of Halle-Wittenberg, Institute of Medical Epidemiology publish new studies and findings in the area of testicular cancer epidemiology

Teratoma Library Library Home This article was published in Clinical Oncology Week, which you can subscribe to online.

"We pooled data from nine cancer registries from 1998 to 2003. We estimated incidence and mortality time trends of West and East Germany. Incidence and mortality were standardized by the European standard population. The annual percentage incidence change from 1961 through 1989 was 4.9% in East Germany and 3.0% from 1970 through 2004 in Saarland. Incidence increases were the most pronounced among adolescents and young men aged 15-49 years. In 1998-2003, the seminoma incidence rate was 5.1 per 100,000; among non-seminomas, the rates were the highest for malignant teratoma (1.6 per 100,000), followed by embryonal carcinoma (1.2 per 100,000). Testicular lymphomas were rare (0.1 per 100,000). The incidence of testicular cancer among children aged 0-14 years was nearly constant from 1987 through 2004. Majority of these cancers were yolk sac tumours (0.1 per 100,000). In East and West Germany, rates of embryonal carcinoma in the early periods were considerably lower than the rates of malignant teratoma. In the most recent periods, rates of embryonal carcinoma became quite similar to the rates of malignant teratoma. The mortality decline started in West Germany roughly 12 years earlier than in East Germany," wrote A. Stang and colleagues, University of Halle-Wittenberg, Institute of Medical Epidemiology.

The researchers concluded: "The later start of the mortality decline in East Germany may be because of a later introduction of platinum-based chemotherapy compared to West Germany."

Stang and colleagues published the results of their research in International Journal of Andrology (Subtype-specific incidence of testicular cancer in Germany: a pooled analysis of nine population-based cancer registries. International Journal of Andrology, 2009;32(4):306-16).

For additional information, contact A. Stang, Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Institute of Medical Epidemiology, Biometry and Informatics, Medical Faculty, Martin-Luther-University of Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany.

The publisher of the International Journal of Andrology can be contacted at: Blackwell Publishing Inc., 350 Main St., Malden, MA 02148, USA.

Keywords: Germany, Halle, Testicular Cancer Epidemiology, Andrology, Epidemiology, Oncology, Seminoma, Testicular Cancer, Testicular Diseases.

This article was prepared by Clinical Oncology Week editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2009, Clinical Oncology Week via NewsRx.com.