INCIDENCE OF MALIGNANT GROWTH OF THE UNDESCENDED TESTICLE

Abstract

Whether the undescended testicle is more liable to become the seat of malignant change than the scrotal testicle and whether, of undescended testicles, the inguinal is more likely to be affected than the abdominal are two questions which have not been satisfactorily answered. In 1927 Wangensteen wrote, "No greater diversity of opinion probably exists concerning anything in medicine than the question of malignancy in the undescended testis." In 1936 Hinman said, "Whether tumor is relatively more frequent with inguinal than with abdominal retention is uncertain." From the data recorded in the literature it can now be stated unequivocally that the undescended testicle is more liable to malignant change than the normally placed testicle and that the abdominal testicle is more liable to malignant change than the inguinal. There are at least six main reasons why these truths have so long remained obscure: 1. The medical profession has neglected the science