Hello and welcome to the Zero to Finals podcast.

My name is Tom and in this episode I'm going to be talking to you about testicular cancer.

You can find written notes on this topic at zero definals.com slash testicular cancer

or in the urology section of the zero definals surgery book.

So let's get straight into it.

Testicular cancer arises from the germ cells in the testes.

Germ cells are cells that produce gametes.

And in the testicles, the gametes are the sperm.

There are other rarer tumors in the testes, such as non-germ cell tumors and secondary metastases. Testicular cancer is more common

in younger men, with the highest incidence being between 15 and 35 years old. Testicular cancer can be divided into two types,

seminomas and non-semenomas, which are mostly types of cancer called teratomas.

There are four risk factors that increase the risk of testicular cancer to remember,

undescended testes, male infertility, family history of testicular cancer, and increased height.

So taller people are at an increased risk.

Let's talk about the presentation.

The typical presentation is with a painless lump that's

been felt on the testicle. Occasionally it can present with testicular pain. The lump will

be non-tender or even have a reduced sensation feeling a bit numb on palpation. It will arise from the testicle and it will feel hard and irregular.

It's also not fluctuate and you can't transilluminate testicular cancer.

Rarely gynecomastia or breast enlargement can be a presentation of testicular cancer,

particularly a rare type of tumour called

a laydick cell tumour. About 2% of patients presenting with gynecomastia will have a testicular tumor.

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