Treating Testicular Cancer

There are several factors that will influence which treatment is best for you when you have testicular cancer. The treatment options include surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and various clinical...

There are several factors that will influence which treatment is best for you when you have testicular cancer. The treatment options include surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and various clinical trials.

Surgery to remove the testicle affected by the cancer is usually the first step in treatment. The surgery to remove a testicle is also referred to as a radical inguinal orchiectomy. This surgical treatment is used in all stages and types of testicular cancer. A prosthetic testicle is available should the male choose to have one. The prosthetic is filled with saline. As with any surgery there is a risk of bleeding, infection and pain. Surgery is also done to remove lymph nodes in the groin area, which is called: retroperitoneal lymph node dissection. The lymph node surgery may be done at the same time as the surgery to remove the testicle or it could be done at a separate time. The lymph node surgery carries with it a special risk and that is of severing the nerves around the nodes, which could lead to difficulty when ejaculating, but it should not have an affect on the ability to have an erection. When doing the lymph node surgery a new technique called the “nerve-sparing surgery”, may be applied by your doctor. When the cancer is caught early enough usually surgery is the only treatment necessary.

Radiation therapy is used especially if the male has the seminoma type of testicular cancer. Radiation therapy is when high-powered energy beams are directed at the cancer cells. The side effects most often experienced when using radiation therapy as a treatment for testicular cancer are fatigue, skin redness and irritation to the skin of the abdomen and groin. Males may experience infertility as a result of the radiation so it is advised that if the male might wish to have children in the future that he use a sperm bank to preserve his sperm BEFORE undergoing any treatment for his cancer.

Chemotherapy treatment is when drugs are used to kill the cancer cells. The drugs are used before or after the lymph nodes are surgically removed. There are side effects from chemotherapy that include hair loss, fatigue, nausea, an increased risk for infection and infertility. Side effects will depend on which drugs are used during the chemotherapy treatment.

Testicular cancer can be a recurring cancer in which case, your doctor will develop a different treatment plan that may include some clinical trails. Clinical trials are not guaranteed to cure the cancer because they are experimental treatments. Clinical trials are available for males with advanced testicular cancer using stem cell transplant and drugs. The trials also involve using chemotherapy.

The treatment prescribed for you will be tailored to your specific type of testicular cancer as well as to the stage of cancer (I, II, III), that you have. Two males, both with testicular may not have the same treatment plan even though they both have testicular cancer. Treatment may be based on age, medical condition (other health issues), stage of cancer, and type of cancer.

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