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Management of patients with nonseminomatous germ cell tumors (NSGCTs) often involves both systemic chemotherapy and surgical resection — in most cases, retroperitoneal lymph node dissection (RPLND). Given high cure rates achieved in patients who have good- and intermediate-risk NSGCTs (using the International Germ Cell Cancer Collaborative Group risk classification system), efforts have focused on lowering therapy-related morbidity without compromising cure rates. Toward this end, two groups of investigators conducted retrospective studies to assess whether surveillance (instead of RPLND) after chemotherapy is safe in patients who achieve complete clinical responses to chemotherapy.
In one study, investigators reported outcomes of 141 patien…