Swiss germ-cell cancer consensus recommendations

Abstract

Approximately 420 men are diagnosed with germ-cell cancer (GCC) in Switzerland each year. Recent international guidelines outline management issues, but many aspects remain controversial in an area of highly individualised treatments. Even more than in other tumour types, in GCC the challenge is to choose exactly the correct treatment for an individual patient. Overtreatment in patients likely to be cured must be avoided to reduce long-term toxicities. On the other hand, treatment intensification is required in patients presenting with adverse prognostic factors. Therefore, referral to expert centres or consultations with an expert for a second opinion is strongly recommended. In 2020, Swiss experts discussed their strategies in a consensus meeting during the virtual Swiss Oncology and Haematology Congress (SOHC) in order to harmonise their concepts and to suggest optimal strategies for the management of GCC patients in Switzerland. Votes on controversial issues were obtained and are presented in this review wherever applicable.

No Survival Differences among Germ-Cell Cancer Patients from Urban and Rural Areas

“…Reports have documented that current guidelines developed at centers of excellence are not always followed in the community [6–8]. In our series at two major referral centers in Switzerland, we found a high rate of compliance with current treatment guidelines, which may have contributed to the excellent survival probabilities observed [9, 10]. Our analysis confirms that if patients are referred to centers of excellence, residential address no longer affects treatment outcome.…”