Testicular Cancer Symptons and Signs

The incidence of testicular cancer or carcinoma in men is increasing, although this cancer remains a relatively rare type of cancer. Over his lifetime, a man has a risk of about less than 1% in conctracting the disease. Usually, the diagnosis is made for a male between the ages of 19 to 39. This type of cancer is rare in young males under 15 years of age. Testicular cancer is more common in men that have cryptorchidism or an undescended testicle.

Testicular cancer is a cancer that affects the testicles or testis. This type of cancer does not affect the penis. Doctors recommend that men should perform monthly self examination of their testicles in order to be aware of any changes that might occur in their bodies. During these exams, men should palpatate their scrotum in order to see if they notice any changes or if there are any lumps. Although finding a lump can be a worrisome thing, it does not necessarily mean that the lump is malignant or cancerous. If a man does these exams regularly and a cancerous lump does appear, chances are that it will be caught in the early stage of development. Most men have no symptoms of the disease in the beginning and most times the lumps in the testicle are not even painful. If left unchecked, a man can develop other symptoms such as shortness of breath, pain in the back, or pain in the abdomen. 

When a lump is discovered, most doctors do a radical orchiectomy or a removal of the testicle. This is done to prevent the spread of the cancer. After that, a doctor will take a sample of blood as well as dissect the tumour in order to see what type of cancer is present. Other tests may be performed. After this, a doctor can discuss treatment options with the man. 

There are different different types of cancer cells that cause testicular cancer. Some types of cancer can cause a sex cord-stromal tumour to form or a gonadal stromal tumor; other types of cancer can cause a germ cell tumor to form. The only difference between these tumors is the kind of cells present. Gonadal stromal tumors can be made of a sertoli cell or it can also be made from a gonadoblastoma or mix of different cells. A man can also have a spermatocytic seminoma tumor which is a type of germ cell tumor that usually occurs in older men and causes the testes to enlarge. The tumours can be considered a teratoma or small encapsulated tumor or they might be considered as a choriocarcinoma, a very aggressive type of cancer cell. 

Depending upon the type of cells in the tumor, your doctor may recommend radiation therapy or chemotherapy. Your doctor may also recommend a procedure known as a retorperitoneal lymph node removal or RPLND. During this procedure, the lymph nodes are removed in order to prevent the cancer from spreading. 

Testicular cancer has a high cure rate which is about 90 to 100%. Although this type of cancer can affect your fertility, men have gone on after having surgery to have children. Nevertheless, doctors will offer sperm cell banking to patients before treating them.