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What is Testicular Cancer?
Testicular cancer is the most common cancer amongst young men between the ages of 20 and 35, although it can develop in boys as young as 15. Between the ages of 15 and 50, about 1 man in
every 500 will develop this problem. Currently about 1600 men a year develop the disease in the
UK. Most (more than 90%) of testicular cancers can be cured if caught at an early stage. Even when these tumours spread they can still be cured in over 80% of cases and large volume tumours can be cured in 50% of cases. The incidence of testicular cancer has risen by 70 per cent over the last 20 years. The causes of the increase are unknown. Men with one or more un-descended testes have a greatly increased risk; 10% of testicular cancer patients have a history of this condition.
Testicular cancer normally presents itself as a lump in the testicle. Regular examination of the
testicle can, in most instances, detect testicular cancer at an early stage but neglect can lead to presentation with advanced cancer. Detection and treatment of testicular cancer is helped by the detection of chemicals in the blood (markers) which are found in a large proportion of patients with testicular cancer.
Treatment for testicular cancer may be very intensive, but most patients cured of testicular cancer have no long-term side effects from treatment. A small proportion of patients will become infertile after chemotherapy treatment. Other side effects of treatment are uncommon but may include damage to the nerve endings, hearing, spasms in the blood vessels and possibly an increased risk
of heart disease in the future. There may be a small increased risk of developing other cancers. The risks of these problems are fewer if the cancer is treated early.
If you have Testicular Cancer, what next?
If you get diagnosed with testicular cancer, firstly you will have an ultra sound scan on the testicle
that will pretty much be in most cases confirm if it is a tumour. They will not know at this time
whether the tumour is benign (safe) or malignant (could spread out of testicle).
To find out they will remove the testicle with in a week and send it away for biopsy. This could take
up to 3 weeks but don’t worry, that’s not long. You will have blood tests and a CT scan while you are waiting for your results.
Why blood tests? Testicular cancers can give off markers in your blood to see how strong the cancer is and whether it has spread. This in fact is a good thing because if the markers drop after your testicle has been removed then the chances of the cancer having spread are reduced, also if you
have chemo and the blood markers drop it means the chemo is working.
When you get your biopsy results you will also probably get your blood results and CT scan results. This will tell you whether your tumour was either; Seminoma Cancer, Teratoma cancer or indeed a mixture of both. Both cancers are aggressive but respond well to chemo. The results will also tell
you whether the cancer has invaded blood vessels or stayed in within the testicle. The CT scan is
the primary tool in showing whether the cancer has spread outside the testicle.
The doctors will tell you what stage your particular testicular cancer is and testicular cancer is staged as below;
Stage 1. Cancer contained in testicle.
Stage 2. Cancer has spread from the testicle to the body and a small tumour in another part of the
body, but not a major organ.
Stage 3. Cancer has attached to a major organ i.e. liver, brain, and kidney
Stage 4. Cancer has spread to more than one major organ.
The doctors will then decide how much Chemotherapy (chemo) to give you (if any is needed at all) and whether or not you need surgery. You will have to store sperm if you want children as chemo
can make you infertile, ask your doctor to sort this out. The chemo has very good results even in
the later stages of the cancer.
When chemotherapy is administered, the common type prescribed is BEP (Bleomycin Etoposide Platinum) and it can have side effects such as, hair loss, sickness, extreme tiredness, ringing in
ears, dry sore mouth, heart palpitations/fast heart beats, pins and needles, confusion and a feeling
of being stressed. All will go after time.
Phil Morris
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