{"entity":{"id":"spermatocytic-tumour","kind":"cancer","name":"Spermatocytic tumour of the testis","aka":["Spermatocytic seminoma","Spermatocytic tumour (older men, indolent)","Spermatocytic tumour (older men, almost never metastasises)","Spermatocytic tumor"],"tldr":"Spermatocytic tumour, once called spermatocytic seminoma, is a rare testicular germ cell tumour of older men that arises from maturing sperm precursors rather than from the fetal germ cells behind ordinary testicular cancer. It almost never spreads, so removing the testis is the whole treatment and no chemotherapy or radiotherapy is needed.","summary":"The 2016 WHO classification renamed spermatocytic seminoma as spermatocytic tumour and placed it among the germ cell tumours unrelated to germ cell neoplasia in situ, because it derives from postpubertal spermatogonia rather than from the arrested fetal germ cells that give rise to seminoma and non-seminoma (Moch 2016). Marker studies identified two types characterised by OCT2 or SSX2-4 expression, corresponding to distinct spermatogonial subpopulations, supporting a spermatogonial stem cell origin (Journal of Pathology 2011). In the Australian registry study it made up 1.1 percent of seminomas, with a mean age of 53.5 but a range from 19 to 92, occurring as often under 55 as over (Journal of Urology 2007).\n\nHow it differs from its parent: it lacks isochromosome 12p and germ cell neoplasia in situ, is not associated with cryptorchidism or the other risk factors of testicular cancer, does not raise the serum markers, and metastasises almost never except in the rare sarcomatous transformation, so the surveillance and chemotherapy pathways of seminoma do not apply.\n\nHow common: 0.4 per million men a year (Journal of Urology 2007).\n\nTreatment: radical orchidectomy alone, with no adjuvant therapy and no routine retroperitoneal imaging beyond a baseline scan; the rare tumour with sarcomatous transformation is treated as a sarcoma.","asOf":"2026-09-24","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spermatocytic_tumor","links":[{"label":"NCI PDQ: testicular cancer treatment","url":"https://www.cancer.gov/types/testicular/treatment"},{"label":"Moch 2016, European Urology: the 2016 WHO classification of urinary and male genital tumours, part A","url":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eururo.2016.02.029"},{"label":"Journal of Urology 2007: population-based incidence and age distribution of spermatocytic seminoma","url":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.juro.2007.03.024"},{"label":"Journal of Pathology 2011: OCT2, SSX and SAGE1 reveal the spermatogonial origin of spermatocytic seminoma","url":"https://doi.org/10.1002/path.2919"}],"tags":["subtype-page","wave4","testicular","rare"],"related":["testicular","seminoma","germ-cell-neoplasia-in-situ","leydig-cell-tumour"],"cancers":[],"sections":[],"technologies":[],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":["tumour-markers"],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"group":"genitourinary","burden":"58 of 9,658 primary malignant testicular tumours in Australia over 1982 to 2002, 1.1 percent of all seminomas, an age-standardised incidence of 0.4 per million men a year; age 19 to 92, mean 53.5 (Journal of Urology 2007).","subtypes":[],"biomarkers":["OCT2 or SSX2-4 expression; OCT4 negative (unlike seminoma)","No isochromosome 12p","Normal alpha-fetoprotein and beta-hCG","Sarcomatous component (the only malignant course)"],"standardOfCare":[{"setting":"All cases","approach":"Radical orchidectomy alone; no adjuvant therapy.","refs":["testicular","seminoma"]}],"stateOfArt":[],"history":[],"pipeline":[],"openProblems":[],"parent":"testicular"},"route":"/cancers/spermatocytic-tumour/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"germ-cell-neoplasia-in-situ","kind":"cancer","name":"Germ cell neoplasia in situ (GCNIS)","route":"/cancers/germ-cell-neoplasia-in-situ/"},{"id":"leydig-cell-tumour","kind":"cancer","name":"Leydig cell tumour of the testis","route":"/cancers/leydig-cell-tumour/"},{"id":"seminoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Seminoma","route":"/cancers/seminoma/"},{"id":"testicular","kind":"cancer","name":"Testicular germ cell tumours","route":"/cancers/testicular/"}],"term":[{"id":"tumour-markers","kind":"term","name":"Tumour markers (CEA, LDH, chromogranin, thyroglobulin)","route":"/terms/tumour-markers/"}]}}