Testicular neoplasia in cryptorchid boys at primary surgery: case series

Cryptorchidism is associated with testicular cancer; the lifetime risk of 2-3% is about four times higher than in the general population.1 2 Some groups of cryptorchid patients may have an especially high risk of testicular cancer.3 Testicular carcinoma in situ is a well described histological pattern that precedes germ cell tumours.1 4 We investigated whether it is possible at primary surgery to identify cryptorchid boys who have testicular neoplasia and therefore are at high risk of testicular cancer. We examined 1535 consecutive specimens of testicular tissue that were obtained from undescended testes at surgery for cryptorchidism in 1249 boys between 1971 and 1998. Previous reports have described 1026 of the biopsies in detail.2 4 No patient had fallopian tubes or a uterus. The table shows the total occurrence of testicular neoplasia at surgery for cryptorchidism. There was one case …