Introduction: Testicular germ cell tumors, particularly nonseminomatous germ cell tumors (NSGCT), comprise the most common solid malignancy in male children and younger adults. While these patients experience excellent survival outcomes, few studies have characterized their survival by age. Thus, we aimed to characterize the relative survival of NSGCT by age, stratifying patients by stage group.
Methods: Using the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database, we divided patients with NSGCT into pediatric patients and adolescents (<19 years), young adults (19-30 years), and older adults (>30 years). Survival analysis, using Cox proportional hazards models and Kaplan Meier curves, described overall and cancer-specific survival (CSS) of each age category for Stage I-III NSGCT by stage group.
Results: A total of 14,786 patients met inclusion criteria and comprised the age groups <19 years (N=1,287), 19 to 30 years (N=7,729), and >30 years (N=5,770). Stage group distribution at presentation was similar between each group. Survival analysis demonstrated no differences in cancer-specific survival (CSS) among Stage I or II NSGCT. However, among Stage III tumors, multivariable models noted worse CSS in patients >30 years (HR=3.35 (95%CI: 1.45-7.73), P=0.005) and those 19-30 years (HR=2.28 (95%CI: 0.99-5.21), P=0.053) compared to pediatric and adolescent patients.
Conclusions: Younger NSGCT patients experience excellent oncologic outcomes compared to their older counterparts. These survival differences by age group are largely driven by differential survival among Stage III neoplasms. Furthermore, our report lends additional evidence that age is an important prognostic factor in advanced NSGCT, including pediatric and adolescent patients.
Keywords: Nonseminomatous germ cell tumor; Pediatric oncology; Testicular cancer.
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