Cancer of the testicle

Eight out of ten men are unaware that cancer can affect the testicles. Testicular cancer presents as a lump in the testis, usually in young or middle aged men. The lump can be felt by simple examination-something you can do at home. Should you discover such a lump, your doctor will want to determine exactly what sort of lump this is. Most lumps and swellings in the scrotum are not cancerous. It may be possible to determine the nature of a lump by simple examination in the surgery. Another way of examining lumps is by ultrasound, which is a safe, non-invasive procedure where sound waves are bounced off the tissue in scrotum and the echoes analysed to produce a picture. This will give a good idea of whether the lump is likely to be benign or whether it needs further investigation and treatment. Fortunately testicular cancer is one of those cancers where very good cure rates are possible, particularly if the cancer is discovered before it has spread. There is good evidence that most men do not examine their testicles on a regular basis-perhaps we should encourage more self examination; go home and have a feel!