Familial testicular germ cell tumors in two brothers

Abstract

Introduction Two percent of testicular germ cell tumors occur in family clusters. Here, we report metachronous testicular germ cell tumors in two brothers. Case presentation An elder brother was diagnosed at the age of 30 years old and the pathological diagnosis was mixed testicular germ cell tumor. A tumor in the younger brother was suspected during testicular self‐examination. It was confirmed by ultrasound examination at the age of 30 years old, 3 years and 6 months after the diagnosis of the testicular tumor in elder brother. The pathological diagnosis was pure seminoma. Both brothers had stage 1 testicular germ cell tumors and no recurrence was observed during the follow‐up period of 4 years and 4 months and 10 months, respectively. Conclusion Various histological types of tumor can occur in members of one family. Besides genetic predisposition, shared diet, environmental exposure and other factors can contribute to the familial testicular cancer. Testicular self‐examination is recommended for family members of a person with testicular germ cell tumor.

Keywords

• familial testicular tumor
• genetic predisposition
• non‐seminoma germ cell tumor
• seminoma
• testicular cancer