Healthy Tips

The words testicular cancer will strike fear into the hearts (and other body parts much lower down) of most men.

Testicular cancer is the commonest cancer affecting young men between 20 and 39 years old.
The exact cause of is not known. There are really no outward or apparent symptoms of testicular cancer that would alert you to its presence in your body.  You might not even know about it until the tumour has grown large enough to be visible on the testicle and by this time is has probably spread to other parts of the body through the lymphatic system.
There is no known cause of testicular cancer but several risk factors  are correlated with the development of the disease.

Risk Factors

The most significant risk factors appear to be genetics and two specific abnormalities of the testicles.  A recent study has linked marijuana use to the development of the disease.

Genetics

If you have a close male relative such as a father or brother who has been diagnosed with testicular cancer your risk is higher than the general population. Similarly your racial background may increase the risk as there appears to be an increased risk in Caucasians and  Hispanics.

Testicular abnormalities

If you had an undescended testicle the risk of developing testicular cancer goes up especially if you were older than eleven years of age by the time the abnormality was surgically corrected. There is also a specific complication of a childhood infectious illness called mumps orchitis that predisposes to the devleopment of testicular cancer in later life. Mumps orchitis is the complication mumps that occurs when the mumps virus travels to the testicles and causes infection and inflammation.

Marijuana

Some new research has linked the development of testicular cancer to the use of marijuana.  In a study of men already diagnosed with testicular cancer marijuana use was 70% more prevalent than in a control group of men who did not have the disease.  It was also correlated with an early age on onset for marijuana smoking and the length of marijuana usage appeared to be linked to a higher risk as well.  It has been known for some time that the testicles are quite receptive to the cannaboids in marijuana so perhaps the findings are not that surprising.
Of all the risk factors for the development of testicular cancer, marijuana useage appears to be the only one that is easily modifiable and under your control.

Treatment

If testicular cancer is diagnosed then the affected testicle is removed.  This procedure is called an orchiectomy.  Prosthetic devices are available for implantation to restore a normal look and feel to the scrotum.  The regular cancer therapies of radiation and chemotherapy would be used if there were signs that the cancer has already spread to the lymphatic system. 
Survival rates for testicular cancer are close to 90% if the tumour is found early.  The best way to detect a tumour is to perform a monthly testicular self exam.

Testicular cancer is cancer that develops in the testicles, a part of the male reproductive system. In the United States; about 8,000 to 9,000 diagnoses of testicular cancer are made each year. Over his lifetime, a man’s risk of testicular cancer is roughly 1 in 250 (four tenths of one percent, or 0.4%). It is most common among males aged 15-34 years, particularly those in their mid-twenties. Testicular cancer has one of the highest cure rates of all cancers: in excess of 90%; essentially 100% if it has not metastasized.

Testicular cancer that forms in tissues of the testis (one of two egg-shaped glands inside the scrotum that make sperm and male hormones). Testicular cancer usually occurs in young or middle-aged men. Two main types of testicular cancer are seminomas (cancers that grow slowly and are sensitive to radiation therapy) and nonseminomas (different cell types that grow more quickly than seminomas).

Testicular cancer accounts for only 1 percent of all cancers in men in the United States. About 8,000 men are diagnosed with testicular cancer, and about 390 men die of this disease each year (1). Testicular cancer occurs most often in men between the ages of 20 and 39, and is the most common form of cancer in men between the ages of 15 and 34. It is most common in white men, especially those of Scandinavian descent. The testicular cancer rate has more than doubled among white men in the past 40 years, but has only recently begun to increase among black men. The reason for the racial differences in incidence is not known.

The testicles manufacture the male hormone testosterone. They also produce sperm. Sperm cells are carried from the testicle through the vas deferens to the seminal vesicles, where they are mixed with fluid produced by the prostate gland. During ejaculation, sperm cells, seminal vesicle fluid, and prostatic fluid enter the urethra, the tube in the center of the penis through which both urine and semen are passed.

Most testicular tumors are discovered by patients themselves–either by accident, as Knies did, or while performing self-examination on each testicle. “The usual presentation is of an enlarged, painless lump,” says Malkowicz.

“Occasionally there can be pain.” The lump typically is pea-sized, but sometimes it might be as big as a marble or even an egg.

Each normal testicle has an epididymis, which feels like a small bump on the upper or middle outer side of the testis. Normal testicles also contain blood vessels, supporting tissues, and tubes that conduct sperm. These can feel bumpy and sometimes men confuse these structures with cancer. If you have any doubts, ask your doctor. The doctor may order an ultrasound test to examine the scrotum (see the American Cancer Society document, Testicular Cancer). This is an easy and painless way of finding out whether there is a tumor.

Symptoms include pain, swelling or lumps in your testicles or groin area. Most cases can be treated, especially if it is found early. Treatment options include surgery, radiation and/or chemotherapy. Regular exams after treatment are important. Treatments may also cause infertility. If you may want children later on, you should consider sperm banking before treatment.

Testicular cancer is highly treatable, even when cancer has spread beyond the testicle. Depending on the type and stage of testicular cancer, you may receive one of several treatments, or a combination. Regular testicular self-examinations can help identify growths early, when the chance for successful treatment of testicular cancer is highest.