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5 slides generated from the cancer page, with a quiz from the open benchmark and speaker notes that cite the sources. Arrow keys move between slides; Print gives one slide per page.
Choriocarcinoma is the rarest and most dangerous form of non-seminoma testicular cancer, made of placenta-like cells that pour out the pregnancy hormone hCG and spread early through the blood to the lungs, liver and brain, where they can bleed. Fewer than eight in ten men survive five years, against more than 95 for testicular cancer overall, so it is treated urgently with intensive chemotherapy.
Choriocarcinoma is a trophoblastic germ cell tumour of syncytiotrophoblasts and mononucleated trophoblasts, arising from germ cell neoplasia in situ and usually as a component of mixed tumours (Moch 2016). In the 1,010-orchidectomy series, pure and predominant choriocarcinoma together made up 1.5 percent; all patients had markedly raised serum beta-hCG (median 199,000 IU/L), tumours averaged 6.5 cm, and the histology showed expansile haemorrhagic nodules surrounded by trophoblastic cells with plexiform aggregates (Am J Surg Pathol 2014). Five-year survival is under 80 percent against over 95 percent for testicular germ cell tumours overall; the choriocarcinoma syndrome, bleeding from metastatic sites at presentation or on starting chemotherapy, is a medical emergency with high morbidity and mortality (Current Oncology Reports 2015).
How it differs from its parent: haematogenous rather than lymphatic spread, so lung, liver and brain metastases without bulky retroperitoneal nodes; beta-hCG in the tens or hundreds of thousands, which alone places a patient in the poor-risk group; and a tendency to bleed that shapes the first days of treatment.
| Setting | Approach | Guideline |
|---|---|---|
| All cases | Treated as poor-risk non-seminoma: four cycles of BEP or VIP with care for bleeding, resection of residual disease, high-dose chemotherapy or trials for refractory disease. | not mapped |