What Every Man Should Know
Cyclist Lance Armstrong, figure skater Scott Hamilton, golfer Todd Barranger, and baseball player Mike Lowell are all survivors of testicular cancer. But you don’t have to be a professional athlete to have the disease. When compared to other kinds of cancer testicular cancer is rare, accounting for only one percent of all cancers in American men. However, it is the most common cancer diagnosed in men in the United States who are between the ages of 15 and 34.
Testicular cancer develops in the testicles, which are located inside the scrotum underneath the penis, and make the male hormone testosterone and produce sperm. Men at increased risk for developing this type of cancer are usually Caucasian and between the ages of 15 and 34. They also may have an undescended testicle, personal or family history of testicular cancer, and congenital abnormalities of the testicles, penis or kidneys. Symptoms of testicular cancer typically do not appear in the early stages. However, as the disease advances it may cause a lump or swelling in a testicle, feeling of heaviness in the scrotum, dull ache in the abdomen or groin, sudden collection of fluid in the scrotum, and pain or discomfort in a testicle or the scrotum. Cancer normally affects only one testicle.
Most of the time testicular cancer is found by men themselves. A doctor may order laboratory and diagnostic tests to confirm the presence of cancer. Blood tests can be done to measure the levels of tumor markers in the blood that tend to be at elevated levels when there is cancer. An ultrasound may help detect any mass in the testicle, and a magnetic resonance imaging or computed tomography scan of the abdomen and pelvis also could be done.
Treatment and prognosis is determined by the type of testicular cancer. There are two main kinds of testicular cancer: seminoma tumors affect men of all ages and are not as aggressive as the other kind of testicular cancer; nonseminomas tend to develop earlier in life, and grow and spread more quickly.
The main treatment for testicular cancer is removal of the affected testicle in a procedure called a radical inguinal orchiectomy. A prosthetic testicle can be placed in the scrotum for cosmetic purposes at the time of surgery or any time after. A man with one healthy testicle can still produce sperm and have a normal erection. Radiation therapy, which uses targeted, high-energy rays to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors, is usually given following surgery to treat seminomas. Sperm production may be affected after radiation therapy, but patients usually regain fertility in one to two years. Chemotherapy also may be recommended after surgery to kill cancer cells that may have spread to other parts of the body from the original tumor.
Testicular cancer cannot be prevented and, like all cancers, it can recur. Fortunately, it is highly treatable even if it has spread beyond the testicle. For more information about testicular cancer, talk with your doctor or visit the website for the American Cancer Society at www.cancer.org. For Physician Referral, please call (305) 441-6877.