Survival from testicular cancer in England and Wales up to 2001

For many years testicular cancer has been the prime example of the tumour that is chemocurable, even when metastatic. The disappointment in oncology is that these results have so far not been replicated in the more common solid tumours. Why this should be is not clear but germ-cell tumours retain sensitivity to chemotherapy in vitro and a number of mechanisms including reduced DNA repair capacity and proneness to apoptosis have been proposed ( Mayer et al, 2003 ).