It is the most common tumour among men aged from 15 and 35 years. When the diagnosis is made early, the chances of cure are very high. The treatment of testicular cancer includes different modalities such as surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, depending on the type and stage of the tumour. We offer a diagnostic assessment almost immediately from the clinical suspicion as well as all subsequent treatments.
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- Radical inguinal orchiectomy (conservative testicular surgery in selected cases)
- Multidisciplinary assessment between urologist, radiation oncologist and radiation therapist
- Systemic chemotherapy
- External radiation therapy
- Retroperitoneal lymp
What is testicular cancer?
Testicular cancer is an abnormal, rapid, and invasive growth of malignant (cancer) cells in the testicles (male sex glands adjacent to the penis).
What are the causes of testicular cancer?
The exact causes of testicular cancer are not known, but some factors may increase the risk. These include undescended testicles (cryptorchidism), abnormal testicular development, Klinefelter’s syndrome and previous history of testicular cancer.
What are the symptoms of a testicular tumour?
- Testicular growth
- Painless mass
- Inflammation of the testicle.
- Dull pain in the back or lower abdomen (Hypogastrium)
- Gynecomastia (excessive development of breast tissue in men), this may also occur normally among adolescent males, in which case it is not a symptom of testicular cancer
- At times, absence of symptoms
What are the types of testicular cancer?
Testicular tumours can be classified as follows:
- Seminomas: account for 30-40% of testicular tumours. Affects men between 30 and 40 years old. Located in the testicles, although 25% of cases have extended to lymph nodes.
- Nonseminomas: account for 60% of testicular tumours. Nonseminoma tumours often contain more than one cell line.
How is testicular cancer diagnosed?
The urologist should perform:
- Physical examination, in which they will feel a mass, painless, with increased size.
- Scrotal ultrasound: a simple non-invasive radiological procedure to confirm any suspicious mass.
- Tumour markers (Alpha-fetoprotein, beta-human chorionic gonadotropin beta fraction, lactic dehydrogenase).
- Chest X-ray to look for metastasis in the lungs.
- Study of the extension with CT.
How are testicular tumours treated?
The treatment depends on the type of tumour, the stage of the tumour and the extent of the disease. The majority of patients can be cured. Testicular tumours are initially treated by surgical removal of the testicle through a small inguinal incision. In some cases, a testicular prosthesis can be inserted into the same procedure for an adequate cosmetic effect.
Once cancer is diagnosed, the first step is to determine the cell line. This is determined through an anatomic-pathology study.
Subsequent treatment will depend on the tumour, since testicular tumours are classified by their cell line, which determines at the same time how they behave biologically and therapeutically. The most common cell line is the SEMINOMA, a tumour sensitive to radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
All other cell strains are called non-seminomatous tumours. Treatment options for nonseminomas include observation, surgery or chemotherapy, depending on the cell line and the degree of propagation.
Your urologist will use a variety of imaging tools along with the tumour markers in blood, to stratify or evaluate the treatment for cancer.
Patients with more advanced testicular cancer or more aggressive tumours may require surgical removal of lymph nodes in the abdomen in the area behind the peritoneum to assess the extent to which the cancer has spread.
