Epidemiology
Furthermore, undescended testicles, which often occur during childhood, play the second largest role in the development of testicular cancer. It increases the risk of getting a malignant tumor on the same side by a factor of 4 to 8, whereas in 5-10% of men with undescended testicles or an inguinal testis also on the opposite side testicular cancer develops. In this case, the risk of degeneration is not reduced by the surgical correction, which is often performed in infancy.
Symptoms
Painless testicular enlargement occurs in 70% of men with testicular cancer. This is often accompanied by a hardening of the testicular tissue. 10 – 20% of those affected, on the other hand, present themselves to the doctor with uncharacteristic pain in the testicles, which here is usually caused by bleeding within the tumor.
Due to the varying quality and quantity of the hormone production of the tumor, depending on the origin of the tissue, gynecomastia, i.e. an enlargement of the mammary glands in men caused by estrogen, may occur as a symptom. In advanced stages, back pain due to bone metastasis (spreading of the tumor), or irritable cough with or without bloody sputum as a sign of lung metastases may also be present. Due to the low level of information of young men regarding testicular cancer, as well as the high anxiety and inhibition threshold before going to the doctor for complaints in this area, 50% of all testicular tumors are not recognized until 2 months after the onset of symptoms, and thus in already advanced stages.
Summary
Testicular cancer is a rather rare form of cancer. However, it is the most common malignant disease in young men, with 95% of testicular tumors being germ cell tumors. These are further subdivided into the groups of seminomas and non-seminomas, each of which originate from different cell lines.
The age peak for both groups is between 30 and 40 years. Testicular cancer is usually diagnosed by palpation and ultrasound of the testis, whereby the final findings are only made after surgical exposure of the testis and examination of the fine tissue. After removal of the testicle, depending on the progress of the disease, either radiotherapy or chemotherapy is initiated.
If the disease has only reached an early stage and has not yet metastasized, these therapies can be dispensed with in many cases. With such a wait-and-see therapy, however, it is very important to have the further development closely monitored by the physician in order to quickly start one of the two therapies mentioned above in case of a progression of the testicular cancer. In contrast to most other cancers, the prognosis for testicular cancer is very good.
If treated correctly, the chances of recovery in earlier stages are almost 100%, in more advanced stages still 80%. Therefore, if one or both testicles increase in size, it is very important to consult a physician as soon as possible to clarify the symptoms. The fear of most men that a possible chemotherapy or removal of a testicle could harm potency and fertility is unfounded. Even a single testicle still produces enough testosterone (male sex hormone) to trigger an erection and produce functional sperm.
