Testing TESTES

Anthony Sharpe prods about in that most sensitive of areas to get to grips with testicular cancer Spot testicular cancer before it’s too late

Spot testicular cancer before it’s too late

Testicles are odd things they look ridiculous are hopelessly expose and as anyone who has mounted a bicycle seat, sat on themselves, been on the receiving end of a misdirected football can attest incredibly vulnerable Sadly no matter how well you protect them things can go wrong and testicular cancer is a reality. It is, however, a relatively rare phenomenon, affecting around six in every one hundred thousand men worldwide That’s 0.5 percent of new cancers cases in 2019 and 0.1% of cancers related deaths

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At what age does it occur

The majority of cases arise from the ages of 20 to 40 years says urologist and robotic surgeon Dr. Hugo van der Merwe. Young men should start with self-examination at puberty

How do you check for it

Self-examinations generally best done after a shower when your scrotum is warm and relaxed standing in front of a mirror one should hold each testicle between the thumb and middle and index fingers then roll them gently. You should feel no pain and no lumps on the testicles Be careful not to mistake your epididymis (the tube-like structure behind the testicle that carries sperm) those are fine.we can compare testicular cancer to breast cancer in woman says van der Merwe with self-examinations being done once a month from the onset of puberty. source

How is it diagnosed

Diagnosis typically begins with the taking of one’s history followed by physical examination Laboratory test can also prove helpful some testicular cancers have blood markers so the use of laboratory test is important not all cancers have these markers though so even if your blood test is negative it doesn’t exclude the risk of a positive diagnosis. This is followed by an ultrasound and if this points to a positive presence of cancers then the testes are explored surgically and a biopsy is performed this not only confirms the presence of cancer but also its type explains van der Merwe

Are there any other warning signs

Any acne pain or feeling of heaviness in the scrotum should be a cause for concern but if it burns when you pee or you have blood in your urine or semen don’t worry about cancer at least if your peeing or ejaculating blood something else is probably wrong

What’s the prognosis

Thankfully testicular cancer has a relatively positive prognosis generally speaking the prognosis is quite good even in more advanced cases just look at Lance Armstrong the five-year survival rate for patients with testicular cancer is just above 95% So if you spot testicular cancer in its early stages your chances are very good to excellent for a full recovery

How do you treat it

Newline treatment entails a combination of chemotherapy radiation therapy and surgery depending on the exact type of cancer and the stage it is at early stages are treated by surgery while more advanced ages will require surgery and other radiation or chemotherapy

Can you still make babies

Testicular cancer usually affects only one testicle although in some rare cases you can click both if your progress to chemotherapy that can negatively impact your fertility in most cases though you should be able to initiate reproduction