Does Testicular Cancer Cause Pain
What are the risk factors? The only well-documented risk factor for testicular cancer is cryptorchidism. Does testicular cancer cause pain? According to this, the testicles of the newborn boys remain inside the abdomen or the inguinal canal and in order to come into their normal position, surgery or hormonal treatment must be done. International studies have shown that boys with cryptorchidism are five to ten times more likely to develop testicular cancer.
There are, of course, a number of other factors that are believed to be conducive to the development of testicular cancer but have not yet been fully elucidated. Some studies, for example, have indicated that boys born to mothers over 35 years of age are 50% more likely to develop testicular cancer - boys born of obese mothers because they have been exposed to higher amounts of estrogen (female sex hormones) in prenatal life their.
Other studies have shown that potential risk factors include an inguinal hernia, low birth weight, sedentary lifestyle, family history of testicular cancer, exposure to certain chemical substances at work, exposure to extreme temperatures (heat or severe heat) cold), as well as infection with the AIDS virus. Does testicular cancer cause pain. However, the correlations of testicular cancer with these factors are much weaker than with cryptorchidism.
Does Testicular Cancer Cause Pain
The causes of testicular cancer are still unclear. Since, however, especially younger men get sick of it, experts assume that the basis for a later testicular cancer is already laid during embryonic development in the womb. In this phase, the testis of an unborn boy can cause defective germ cells, so-called progenitor cells. Through the hormone boost in puberty, these are then activated and develop into real cancer cells on. Hitherto unknown external triggers will later cause the cancer cells to multiply and a malignant tumor instead.Why an unborn baby's germ cells develop into progenitor cells of testicular cancer is not yet clear. May play hereditary factors or minor shifts hormone balance of the pregnant woman or the unborn child a role: An increased proportion of female hormones (estrogens) can engage in the development of testes and germ cells of the embryo and change it.
The hormonal balance of pregnant women may shift, among other things: by taking estrogen-containing medications, at the first pregnancy, in twin pregnancies or in pregnant women older than 30 years.
What are the symptoms of testicular cancer? Most tumors in the testicles are first perceived by the patients themselves, either accidentally or during a testis self-examination. They usually perceive a bean-sized beak (of course, much larger), which rarely causes pain. Other suspicious symptoms include swelling of the testicle, the feeling of weight in it or sudden fluid build-up in the scrotum, strange pain in the lower abdomen or in the groin, or even swelling or sensation in the chest. In such a case, medical advice is necessary because other diseases can cause similar symptomatology but only one doctor can determine exactly what is due.
How is testicular cancer diagnosed? Doctors use several methods to diagnose testicular cancer. Patient examination (clinical examination) often excludes other possible causes, while a scanned ultrasound can easily and painlessly detect a possible tumor. However, whether it is benign or malignant can be ascertained only by biopsy, which requires the resection of the entire testicle. Doctors remove the entire testicle and not just a part of it because if there is cancer, an incision in the testicle's outer layer could allow the local spread of the disease. In addition, removal of the testicle can prevent the future development of another tumor.
What is the treatment of testicular cancer? No treatment is suitable for all sufferers of testicular cancer. Seminomics and non-seminoma tumors are different in their tendency to spread, in the way they spread and in their response to radiotherapy. Does testicular cancer cause pain - Therefore, different therapeutic approaches are often required, which doctors choose based on the type of cancer and its stage.
For seminomas, the treatment may be simple surgical resection of the testicle, but radiotherapy or chemotherapy may also be needed. However, it is rarely necessary to surgically excise the lymph nodes, because even if cancer has spread to them, they are extremely vulnerable to radiotherapy. Although most non-seminoma cancers are not diagnosed in early stages, those who are restricted to the testicle may not require treatment other than surgical removal.
An undescended testicle should be corrected in the first two years of life by surgery also, so as not to endanger the later fertility of a boy. Such an early intervention also reduces the risk of developing testicular cancer later. However, it remains elevated compared to the normal population.
Hereditary factors are also a cause of an increased risk of testicular cancer. In some families, this disorder occurs frequently: If a man suffers from testicular cancer, so is the risk of his brothers, also to develop a malignant testicular tumor, increased by a 12-fold; If a father suffers from testicular cancer, the testicular cancer risk for his sons also increases. Does testicular cancer cause pain - In addition, men who already had a malignant tumor in one testicle have a higher risk of developing a tumor in the other testicle as well. In general, fair-skinned Europeans are more often affected by testicular cancer than African-born men.