HEALTH PROFESSIONAL · SOURCE READING

Stage II Seminoma

Source: Testicular Cancer Treatment (PDQ®)–Health Professional Version, National Cancer Institute.

Source updated: May 16, 2025 · Captured 2026-09-09.

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Context: Treatment of Stage II Testicular Cancer

Stage II seminoma is divided into bulky and nonbulky disease for treatment planning and expression of prognosis. Bulky disease is generally defined as tumors larger than 5 cm on a computed tomography (CT) scan (i.e., stage IIC disease). Nonbulky disease can be further subdivided into stage IIA, meaning no lymph node mass larger than 2 cm, and stage IIB, meaning a lymph node mass between 2 cm and 5 cm.

Nonbulky stage II disease has a cure rate of about 90% to 95% with radiation therapy alone at doses of 30 Gy to 36 Gy.[1-4] Most patients with relapsed disease can be cured with chemotherapy. Cure rates are slightly higher for patients with stage IIA disease than for those with IIB disease, but the figures are within the range given above. Risk factors for relapse include multiple enlarged nodes.

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Results for patients with stage IIC disease have been less favorable. For example, one institution reported that among patients with stage IIC disease, 9 of 16 (56%) had a relapse following radiation therapy, compared with only 1 of 23 patients (4%) treated with chemotherapy.[3] A pooled analysis of earlier studies reported a 65% relapse-free survival (RFS) rate for men receiving radiation therapy for bulky stage II seminoma.[5] Unfortunately, only sparse contemporary data are available on the use of radiation therapy to treat bulky stage II seminomas, and there are no randomized trials comparing radiation therapy with chemotherapy in this population. Combination chemotherapy with cisplatin is effective therapy in patients with bulky stage II seminomas and has become the most widely accepted treatment option.[6,7]

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Residual radiological abnormalities are common at the completion of chemotherapy. Many abnormalities gradually regress during a period of months. Some clinicians advocate empiric attempts to resect residual masses 3 cm or larger, while others advocate close surveillance, with intervention only if the residual mass increases in size. Postchemotherapy radiation therapy is no longer favored, in part because of a retrospective study of a consecutive series of 174 patients with seminoma and postchemotherapy residual disease seen at ten treatment centers. The study reported that empiric radiation was not associated with any medically significant improvement in progression-free survival after completion of platinum-based combination chemotherapy.[4][Level of evidence C2]

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In some series, surgical resection of specific masses has yielded a significant number of patients with residual seminoma who require additional therapy.[5] Nevertheless, other reports indicate that the size of the residual mass does not correlate well with active residual disease, most residual masses do not grow, and frequent marker and CT scan evaluation is a viable option even when the residual mass is 3 cm or larger.[6]

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A more recent approach has been to obtain a fluorine F 18-fludeoxyglucose positron emission tomography–computed tomography (18F-FDG PET-CT) scan following chemotherapy. A study of 56 patients reported that positron emission tomography (PET) scans correctly identified eight of ten patients with residual seminoma with no false positives among the 46 patients with benign masses.[8] In this study, PET scans were 100% accurate in patients with residual masses greater than 3 cm in greatest diameter whereas residual malignant masses less than 3 cm were only detected in one of three men. This study provides support for observing men with residual 18F-FDG PET-negative masses greater than 3 cm and for performing a biopsy or resection of any 18F-FDG PET-positive mass.

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Treatment options for patients with nonbulky tumors:

Radical inguinal orchiectomy followed by radiation therapy to the retroperitoneal and ipsilateral pelvic lymph nodes. Prophylactic radiation therapy to the mediastinum is contraindicated because of cardiovascular toxic effects, and prophylactic radiation to the supraclavicular fossa is not standard. Radiation therapy to inguinal nodes is not standard unless there has been some damage to the scrotum to put inguinal lymph nodes at risk.

Systemic chemotherapy using three cycles of bleomycin, etoposide, and cisplatin (BEP) or four cycles of etoposide and cisplatin. This approach is generally reserved for stage IIA and IIB patients who have multiple areas of adenopathy in the retroperitoneum or a contraindication to radiation therapy such as a horseshoe or pelvic kidney, or inflammatory bowel disease.[7,9-11]

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Retroperitoneal lymph node dissection (RPLND) may be performed in those rare men who have contraindications to radiation therapy and chemotherapy.

Treatment options for patients with bulky tumors:

Radical inguinal orchiectomy followed by combination chemotherapy (with a cisplatin-based regimen) using three cycles of BEP or four cycles of etoposide and cisplatin.[7,9-11]

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Radical inguinal orchiectomy followed by radiation therapy to the abdominal and pelvic lymph nodes. The recurrence rate is higher after radiation therapy for men with bulky stage II tumors than radiation therapy for nonbulky tumors, leading some authors to recommend primary chemotherapy for patients with bulky disease (≥5 cm–10 cm).[3,12]

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