© All rights reserved
Testicular Cancer
Testicular cancer is not contagious and cannot spread from one person to another. This form of cancer is relatively rare when compared to other types of cancer. Testicular cancer accounts for approximately 1% of all cancers in men. However, it is the most common male cancer in men between the ages of 15 and 39.
The symptoms of testicular cancer include:
- Uncomfortable feeling in a testicle
- Presence of a painless lump on a testicle – the lump can sometimes be as small as a grain of rice and feel like hard rubber
- An enlarged or swollen testicle
- A change in the consistency of a testicle
- A heavy or aching feeling in the back, lower abdomen, groin, or scrotum
- Any painless lump on a testicle that does not respond promptly to antibiotic treatment
- If the cancer has already spread to the lungs, problems like shortness of breath, chest pain, or cough (even coughing up blood) may develop
- In rare cases, testicular cancer spreads to the brain and can cause headaches and confusion
- Enlargement of breasts with tenderness in cases of testicular germ cell tumours
- In Leydig cell tumours (hormone producing cells in the testes), oestrogen-producing tumours can cause loss of sexual desire or make the male’s breasts to grow
- Also in Leydig cell tumours, androgen-producing tumours can cause growth of facial and body hair at an abnormally early age in boys (American Cancer Society; Testicular Cancer Symptoms).
Typically, testicular cancer develops in one or both testicles in young men, but it can occur in older men as well. It is a highly treatable and usually curable type of cancer.
One of the first signs of testicular cancer is often a lump or swelling in the testes.
It is not very common for testicular cancer to spread to other organs, apart from the lungs. However, if it has, the following symptoms may be present:
- shortness of breath (dyspnea), cough or coughing up blood (hemoptysis) from metastatic spread to the lungs
- a lump in the neck due to metastases to the lymph nodes
