Testicular cancer is one of the rarest generally but among guys aged 15 to 40 it is the most common there is. How would you know if you had testicular cancer?
Symptoms
The main symptom of testicular cancer is a small peanut or pea sized lump on the testicle. If you feel your testis during a hot shower or bath then it should be smooth all over the front and sides (the back is covered in a tubular structure called the epididymis that extends from top to bottom). If you feel a hard lump coming from within the testicle then this could be cancer.
In some men there is no small lump but instead the entire testicle becomes hard or even swells to 3 or 4 times the normal size. Although there is usually no pain in the testis some men do report pain.
Rarely, the first symptom of testicular cancer can be extreme back pain. This means that it has spread to the nearby lymph nodes. It is much more common to first discover something wrong with one of your testes though.
Tests
If you think there is something unusual about one of your testes then you should visit your doctor who will check them himself. He might not be able to feel what you can. If you are sure that there is something wrong then insist on testing.
One of the tests that will be done is an ultrasound. This is a cheap, easy and non-invasive test and is the same equipment that is used to check the healthy of an unborn child. The sonographer puts some gel on a transducer and slowly moves this over both your testes.
The second test that is normally done is a blood test to look for tumor markers. There are two tumor markers that are very useful for detecting testicular cancer. If they are raised then you have cancer. However, if they are not raised then it does not mean that you don’t have cancer. Therefore the ultrasound is still the definitive test for determining if you need surgery because 95% of lumps found on the ultrasound will turn out to be cancer.
Also, in most cases your doctor will refer you to a specialist doctor called a urologist first. The urologist will order the tests and decide if you need to have your testis removed in an operation called an orchidectomy.
After Surgery
After surgery your testis will be checked for cancer and what type it is and the size of the tumor/extent of spread. If there is confirmed cancer then you will also have a CT scan of the abdomen and chest X-ray and you will be referred to a cancer specialist also known as an oncologist.
The oncologist will look at your tumor type and scan results and then advise what treatment (if any) you need. Testicular cancer is highly treatable even if caught late. However, you should get medical treatment asap if you suspect you have it because it could mean the difference between not needing any treatment after surgery (surveillance) or needing 3 months of chemotherapy.