# Retroperitoneal germ cell tumour

Source: https://onco.cc/cancers/retroperitoneal-germ-cell-tumour/  
OnCo record `retroperitoneal-germ-cell-tumour` (Cancer). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

A retroperitoneal germ cell tumour is a germ cell tumour found in the back of the abdomen with no obvious tumour in the testis. Many turn out to be spread from a tiny testicular tumour that has scarred over, so the testes are examined closely; treatment and cure rates are close to those of testicular disease.

## Summary

Retroperitoneal germ cell tumours present as a mass around the aorta and vena cava, the first drainage site of the testis, in a man whose testes feel normal. Whether they are true extragonadal primaries is disputed: in a series of 26 patients treated as primary retroperitoneal germ cell tumours, ultrasound of the testes was abnormal in all 20 examined and testicular histology in 25 showed viable tumour in three, intratubular germ cell neoplasia in four, scar tissue in 12 and sclerosis or fibrosis in six; the authors concluded that such tumours should be regarded as metastases of a viable or burned-out testicular cancer until proven otherwise (Scholz 2002). The NCI PDQ summary keeps the retroperitoneum as one of the two main extragonadal sites.

How it differs from its parent: outcome is better than for the mediastinal site. In the pooled analysis, 63 percent of patients with retroperitoneal non-seminoma were alive after platinum chemotherapy against 49 percent with mediastinal non-seminoma, and no haematological malignancies occurred with retroperitoneal primaries (Bokemeyer 2002; Hartmann 2000). Seminoma survival was 88 percent whatever the site, and seminoma treated with radiotherapy alone had a lower progression-free survival than with chemotherapy (Bokemeyer 2002). In children the retroperitoneum is a site of teratoma: 8 of 11 children in one hospital series had teratomas, average age at diagnosis 18 months (Cancer 1985, PMID 2988749).

How common: no separate incidence figure is published.

Treatment follows the parent page: retroperitoneal non-seminoma is staged by the International Germ Cell Cancer Collaborative Group risk group as testicular disease is, with three or four cycles of BEP and resection of residual masses over one centimetre; seminoma has cisplatin-based chemotherapy. A testicular ultrasound and, where it is abnormal, orchidectomy are part of the work-up because of the burned-out primary (Scholz 2002).

## Fields

- Kind: Cancer
- Last checked: 2026-09-24
- Also known as: Primary retroperitoneal germ cell tumour; Extragonadal retroperitoneal germ cell tumour; Burned-out testicular tumour presenting in the retroperitoneum
- Tags: subtype-page; wave4; rare
- Group: genitourinary
- Burden: Rare and not counted separately by GLOBOCAN. In the international analysis of 635 extragonadal germ cell tumours, 283 (45 percent) arose in the retroperitoneum (Bokemeyer 2002).
- Subtypes: Retroperitoneal seminoma; Retroperitoneal non-seminomatous germ cell tumour (embryonal carcinoma, yolk sac tumour, teratoma, mixed); Retroperitoneal metastasis of a burned-out testicular primary (scar or intratubular germ cell neoplasia in the testis); Retroperitoneal teratoma of childhood
- Biomarkers: Alpha-fetoprotein, beta-hCG and lactate dehydrogenase; Testicular ultrasound for a burned-out primary; Isochromosome 12p

## Sections of this record

The page is a hub with ten sections in reading order; large sections have their own page. The same plan as JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/cancers/retroperitoneal-germ-cell-tumour/sections.json

- Overview (on the hub): The TL;DR, the family this cancer belongs to, the organ, who gets it and what the state of the art is. https://onco.cc/cancers/retroperitoneal-germ-cell-tumour/#overview
- What it is (on the hub): Anatomy, the subtypes and how they differ, how it is staged, and where advanced disease spreads. https://onco.cc/cancers/retroperitoneal-germ-cell-tumour/#what-it-is [4 subtypes]
- Finding it (on the hub): How it shows itself, how it is confirmed, what screening exists, and the biomarkers clinicians test for. https://onco.cc/cancers/retroperitoneal-germ-cell-tumour/#finding-it [3 biomarkers]
- Treating it (on the hub): The standard of care by setting, the medicines, surgery and radiotherapy named in it, and the regimens behind them. https://onco.cc/cancers/retroperitoneal-germ-cell-tumour/#treating-it [1 setting, 1 decision with options]
- Evidence (on the hub): Trials recruiting now, the landmark trials, the key papers and what they mean, the latest literature, and the milestones year by year. https://onco.cc/cancers/retroperitoneal-germ-cell-tumour/#evidence
- The science (on the hub): The molecular landscape: the targets and how often each appears, the pathways, the mechanics stages and the preclinical models. https://onco.cc/cancers/retroperitoneal-germ-cell-tumour/#science [1 target]
- Where you are (own page): Cases by country, the UK and NHS pathway and other country lenses, and the expert centres with trials on record. https://onco.cc/cancers/retroperitoneal-germ-cell-tumour/where-you-are/
- Living with it (on the hub): The decisions you may face, the aids that walk through them, the warnings on record, the first sixty days and the questions to ask. https://onco.cc/cancers/retroperitoneal-germ-cell-tumour/#living-with-it [8 questions, 6 red cards]
- What is coming (own page): Everything in development, the open problems and what is being done about them, the roadmaps, and what changed on this record. https://onco.cc/cancers/retroperitoneal-germ-cell-tumour/coming/ [3 medicines]
- Data (own page): Every connected record, the notes, the JSON, Markdown and RDF twins, and where the record came from and when it was checked. https://onco.cc/cancers/retroperitoneal-germ-cell-tumour/data/ [12 connected records]

## Standard of care

- All histologies: Treated as the parent: chemotherapy by risk group, resection of residual masses, and testicular ultrasound with orchidectomy where the testis is abnormal. ([Extragonadal germ cell tumour](https://onco.cc/cancers/extragonadal-germ-cell-tumour/), [Bleomycin](https://onco.cc/drugs/bleomycin/), [Etoposide](https://onco.cc/drugs/etoposide/), [Cisplatin](https://onco.cc/drugs/cisplatin/))

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germ_cell_tumor
- NCI PDQ: extragonadal germ cell tumours treatment: https://www.cancer.gov/types/extragonadal-germ-cell/patient/extragonadal-treatment-pdq
- Bokemeyer 2002, JCO: extragonadal germ cell tumours of the mediastinum and retroperitoneum, 635 patients: https://doi.org/10.1200/jco.2002.07.062
- Scholz 2002, Annals of Oncology: retroperitoneal germ cell tumour, evidence of origin in the testis: https://doi.org/10.1093/annonc/mdf003
- Hartmann 2000, JNCI: haematological disorders with primary mediastinal non-seminomatous germ cell tumours: https://doi.org/10.1093/jnci/92.1.54
- Retroperitoneal germ cell tumours in childhood, Cancer 1985 (PMID 2988749): https://europepmc.org/article/MED/2988749

## Connected records

- cancers: [Extragonadal germ cell tumour](https://onco.cc/cancers/extragonadal-germ-cell-tumour/), [Germ cell tumours of childhood and adolescence (extracranial and CNS)](https://onco.cc/cancers/paediatric-germ-cell-tumours/), [Mediastinal germ cell tumour](https://onco.cc/cancers/mediastinal-germ-cell-tumour/), [Non-seminomatous germ cell tumour](https://onco.cc/cancers/non-seminoma/), [Seminoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/seminoma/), [Testicular germ cell tumours](https://onco.cc/cancers/testicular/)
- drugs: [Bleomycin](https://onco.cc/drugs/bleomycin/), [Cisplatin](https://onco.cc/drugs/cisplatin/), [Etoposide](https://onco.cc/drugs/etoposide/)
- terms: [Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP)](https://onco.cc/terms/afp/), [Tumour markers (CEA, LDH, chromogranin, thyroglobulin)](https://onco.cc/terms/tumour-markers/)

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JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/retroperitoneal-germ-cell-tumour.json