Testicular cancer is a malignant tumor formed from the tissue of the gonads in men. Pathology is most common in several age categories: 10, 20-40, older than 60 years. Oncology of the testicle is a rather aggressive disease, which is evidenced by its rapid development: the tumor can double in size in an incredibly short period (less than one month). Among all malignant tumors, testicular cancer in men is very rare, less than 1% of all cases, and oncology of the epididymis is even rarer.
Causes and risk factors
The reasons for the development of such an oncological pathology as a testicular tumor in men have not yet been fully elucidated. Several risk factors that can become catalysts for the development of the disease are conventionally identified:
- cryptorchidism is a pathology in which during intrauterine development or in the first months of a baby's life, the testicles have not descended to their proper place, in the scrotum. Even after corrective surgery, the probability that a tumor will appear on the testicle is very high. The risk of developing cancer in patients with cryptorchidism is 10 times higher than in those who do not suffer from this pathology;
- heredity - the disease develops most often in those men whose families have had testicular cancer on the male line. True, experts have not yet managed to establish which gene provokes the development of a dangerous neoplasm in the gonads;
- previous cancer disease. If, for example, cancer of the left testicle was transferred in the past, the risk of the same problem in the right testicle increases several times. Therefore, after medical therapy and recovery, it is necessary to regularly visit a doctor for an examination for the next 5 years, in order to exclude recurrence and the occurrence of cancer of the right testicle;
- infertility - "sterile" seminal glands can also be affected by cancer;
- race – it is stated that representatives of the Caucasian race suffer from testicular cancer more often than others. It has not been determined what this feature of the disease is related to;
- underdevelopment of the gonads. The small size of the testicles, their very soft or dense structure, the presence of congenital scar tissue - all this can eventually provoke a testicular tumor;
- age - as already mentioned earlier, at a certain age men are diagnosed with testicular cancer more often, therefore the range of 10-40 years can be considered the most dangerous;
- body constitution. As statistics show, testicular cancer most often affects tall men with a thin build.
Species and stages
Testicular cancer is a disease arising from germ cells. In other words, it is an embryonic cell pathology. Two types of cancer are officially distinguished: seminoma and oncology, which does not belong to it. Statistics on the manifestation of neoplasms in the form of seminoma are becoming more frequent, accounting for almost half of all cases of the disease.
Separate categories include teratoma, embryonal carcinoma, and chorionic carcinoma (about 2% of cases). Sometimes testicular cancer is found in the form of structures complex in their histological form, when the disease includes several types of tumors at once.
According to the TNM classification, depending on the tumor site and the presence of metastases, several stages of the disease are distinguished:
- T in situ – the tumor appeared only in the tubules;
- T1 – testicular and epididymal tissues are affected, but vessels are not damaged;
- T2 – spread affected venous and lymphatic vessels;
- T3 - cancer cells have touched the spermatic cord;
- T4 – affected protein shell;
- N0 – lymph nodes are not affected;
- Nx – condition of lymph nodes cannot be assessed;
- N1, N2, N3 – the size of lymph nodes is less than 2 cm, from 2 to 5 cm and more than 5 cm, respectively.
Testicular cancer: symptoms
Among the most common signs of testicular oncology is the appearance of a noticeable thickening in the scrotum, which is sometimes accompanied by a dull, aching pain. Pain may spread to the abdomen and back. Jumps in body temperature up to 37-37.5°C are possible.
If the patient has a testicular tumor, the symptoms begin to increase as the disease progresses. There is shortness of breath, severe weakness, nausea, lack of appetite, possible cough with hemoptysis. Such unpleasant signs indicate that not only testicular cancer is present, but also metastases in such cases have already spread to the peritoneal lymph nodes.
At the appearance of the first symptoms of the disease (in particular, thickening of the testicles, nodules), you should immediately contact a specialist. This will maximize the chances of a full recovery. When such an oncological pathology as testicular cancer is detected, the patient's life expectancy is not shortened in the case of competent and, most importantly, timely treatment.
Diagnosis of the disease
Consultation with an oncologist begins with a thorough survey: the doctor specifies the presence of testicular cancer patients in the family, asks about scrotal injuries, sudden weight loss, and the presence of fever. Then the doctor performs an examination: he palpates the testicles, noting the presence of compactions, scrotal tenderness, sensitivity of the glands, feels the lymph nodes and mammary glands.
After a visual inspection, laboratory and computer studies are carried out:
- blood and urine analysis - it detects cancer cells, the presence of which can be indicated, for example, by an increased level of alpha-fetoprotein;
- Ultrasound of the scrotum, peritoneum - will show the presence of compactions, nodular formations;
- MRI/CT - these studies allow to detect secondary tumors, metastases, their size and stage of development;
- biopsy - it examines the structure of tumor tissue cells, determines its type, whether it is malignant or not.
Treatment of testicular tumor
If testicular cancer is not treated in a timely manner, the consequences may be unfavorable, which is related to the speed of growth of oncological cells in the gonad and rapid metastasis of this oncopathology.
The first stage of treatment is surgical removal of the gonad affected by pathological cells. The next stages of therapy directly depend on the patient's condition after surgery, the size of the tumor, and the presence of metastases.
In individual cases, radiation therapy is prescribed after surgery to destroy the remaining single cancer cells. Sometimes such therapy is performed before surgery to shrink the tumor and slow its growth. Additionally, hormone replacement therapy is prescribed.
The chances of a complete cure directly depend on how far the cancer has spread throughout the body: if it manifested itself not only as a testicular tumor, the consequences will be more serious. In the presence of metastases and additional neoplasms, there is a high probability of disease recurrence or the impossibility of its complete elimination.
Prevention and prognosis
For patients diagnosed with testicular cancer, the prognosis is positive: if the problem is detected in time, the probability of complete recovery is about 95%.
Rejection of smoking, alcohol, and avoiding contact with radioactive elements can be considered an excellent prevention of oncology of the gonads. It is also important to find out the family anamnesis, information about whether relatives had, for example, epididymal cancer.
Even if the tumor is already present, but the diagnosis was made at an early stage of the disease, surgical intervention in combination with conservative treatment (chemotherapy) is enough to return the patient to a full life in the future.
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