Clinical Value of the Aschheimzondek Test in the Diagnosis of Testicular Tumors

Since 1931 quantitative Aschheim-Zondek tests have been done routinely on patients with testicular tumors at Memorial Hospital. There have been 203 such patients, on whom a total of 1,403 urinary assays have been recorded. The tests were performed by the technic described by Ferguson in 1933. In addition there have been 42 on whom tests have been done with a larger number of animals per test in an attempt to make the assays more accurate. We wish to analyze data on these patients to answer the following questions: Is the amount of hormone in the urine of a patient with a testicular tumor related to the histologic structure of the tumor? Can one accurately follow the clinical course of the disease by repeated Aschheim-Zondek tests? Do these tests show increasing excretion of hormone, for instance, as evidence of recurrence or metastasis before such conditions can be discovered clinically?