Cryptorchidism is one of the most common congenital anomalies, affecting approximately 1% to 4% of full term and 1% to 45% of preterm newborn boys [1]. In patients with a history of cryptorchidism, or undescended testis (UDT), the overall risk for developing testicular cancer is estimated to be 2.2 to 6 times that of the background population [2,3]. Fortunately, orchidopexy is a relatively simple surgical treatment for UDT that may decrease the risk of testicular cancer in this patient group. A Danish epidemiological study in 2001 demonstrated the utility of early orchidopexy in decreasing the risk of testicular cancer in patients with UDT compared to the background population. In this study, orchidopexy at a younger age was associated with lower risk of subsequent testicular cancer—the odds ratio for subsequent testicular cancer is 1.1 if completed by age 9 and 3.5 if delayed until age 15 or older [4]. A recent paper by Schneuer et al. showed a similar relationship for boys with UDT and increasing age at orchidopexy; with every 6 month increase in age at time of orchidopexy after age 18 months, the risk of testicular cancer increased by 6% [3]. Based on data from these studies and others [5], the AUA guidelines now suggest orchidopexy by 12 months of age [6]. However, while there is a benefit in performing an orchidopexy at an earlier age, there is still an increased risk of testicular cancer in those patients with a history of UDT compared to those without UDT.

Currently, there are few contemporary studies that examine the effect of orchidopexy on testicular tumor pathology, inclusive of patients who have a benign testicular tumor. Historically, studies reporting on the pathology distribution of testicular tumors following orchiectomy excluded patients with benign testicular tumor on pathology [7], [8], [9]. These studies reported a rate of seminoma ranging from 40% to 46% in patients with testicular cancer and a history of corrected UDT while patients who had UDT at presentation of malignancy had a rate of seminoma of 70% to 90% [5,[7], [8], [9], [10]]. None of these studies included patients that had a benign testicular tumor. The aim of this paper is to examine the differences in testicular tumor pathology of patients who have had an orchidopexy compared to those without a history of cryptorchidism. As seminoma is currently the most common germ cell tumor histology, with 52% to 56% of the germ cell distribution, the authors hypothesize that the pathology distribution of orchiectomy specimens in patients with a history of UDT will reflect the findings of previous studies and the current histologic patterns [2]. The authors hypothesize that patients with a history of UDT will have a large distribution of seminoma in their orchiectomy specimens and will have an overall similar histologic distribution compared to those without a history of UDT.