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Testicular Cancer

Testicular cancer is cancer that starts in the testicles.

Risk Factors

• Abnormal testicle development
• History of testicular cancer
• History of undescended testicle
• Klinefelter syndrome

Two Typers:

1. seminomas
2. nonseminomas.

Seminoma: This is a slow-growing form of testicular cancer usually found in men in their 30s and 40s. The cancer is usually just in the testes, but it can spread to the lymph nodes.
Nonseminoma: This more common type of testicular cancer tends to grow more quickly than seminomas.

Manifestations:

• Discomfort or pain in the testicle, or a
• feeling of heaviness in the scrotum
• Pain in the back or lower abdomen
• Enlargement of a testicle or a change in the way it feels
• Excess development of breast tissue (gynecomastia)
• Lump or swelling in either testicle

Diagnostics:
A physical examination typically reveals a firm lump (mass) in one of the testicles. When the health care provider holds a flashlight up to the scrotum, the light does not pass through the lump.

An examination of the tissue is usually done after the entire testicle is surgically removed.

Three types of treatment can be used.

• Surgical treatment removes the testicle (orchiectomy)
• Radiation therapy using high-dose x-rays
• Chemotherapy uses drugs such as cisplatin, bleomycin, and etoposide to kill cancer cells.