If You’re Facing Testicular Cancer, Consider Using A Sperm Storage Facility
Posted by Admin, 2011
Testicular cancer may be a relatively rare disease, which is of course a good thing – but one of the consequences of being a lesser known ailment is that most people don’t know all that much about it. Even though Lance Armstrong brought some public awareness to the disease by surviving it himself and going on to win races afterwards. In fact, he also managed to start a family even as he underwent a course of treatment for his testicular cancer; and if you’ve been diagnosed with this form of cancer yourself, you may also have the option of fathering children as long as you make the right choices before you begin treatment.
Even though testicular cancer isn’t terribly common, it tends to affect young men, most often between late adolescence and the mid thirties. Especially if you’re in this age group, then it’s a good idea to know a little about this type of cancer, how it is treated and how to protect your reproductive health if you’re diagnosed with the disease.
A diagnosis of testicular cancer can be established through a physical examination of the testes for lumps or other abnormalities; any swelling or unusual pain could possibly be a sign of testicular cancer. A sonogram may also be performed afterwards to help confirm this diagnosis; a blood test may also be used to establish whether or not the patient has testicular cancer. A tumor will be indicated by some telltale markers in the blood. If these are found, the diagnosis may be confirmed by a biopsy. If the biopsy confirms the presence of a tumor, an orchiectomy may be performed depending on the progress of the disease.
Treatment
The good news is that most cases of testicular cancer are curable; and like other forms of cancer, early diagnosis is key. The earlier that the disease is caught, the more likely it is that the patient can be cured. The disease is generally treated through chemotherapy, radiation therapy and/or surgery.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy involves the use of drugs to kill the cancerous growth in the testes. Chemotherapy is often administered in conjunction with surgical treatment – although it may also be used as the first line of treatment in the event that a case of testicular cancer is only diagnosed once it has already progressed to an advanced state. Unfortunately, chemotherapeutic agents aren’t necessarily able to distinguish cancerous cells from healthy tissue, so healthy tissue (especially any tissue with fast dividing cells) can also be affected. Many of the drugs used in chemotherapy for testicular cancer treatment can temporarily or permanently render the patient infertile. For this reason, a lot of people choose to bank their sperm at a cryogenic sperm storage facility in order to give themselves the ability to father children later on once they receive a diagnosis of testicular cancer.
Radiation Therapy
Certain types of testicular cancer respond well to radiation therapy, so this may be the treatment of choice depending on your diagnosis. Like all forms of cancer treatment, it has the potential to cause unwelcome side effects, including on your reproductive health, impairing sperm production. However, this is more of a targeted type of cancer treatment which tends to spare more healthy tissue – and many men who undergo this treatment for their testicular cancer see their fertility recover to the point that they are able to father children again within the space of a few years.
Surgical Treatment
Surgery could consist of removing one or both testicles (known as orchiectomy); lymph nodes may also be removed, depending on the severity and the progress of the disease. If only one testicle is removed, the patient will still likely be able to conceive a child with his partner. In many cases, sexual function can also be preserved.
There is of course no such thing as “good” cancer, but a diagnosis of testicular cancer isn’t the end of the world – and as long as you decide to use a sperm storage facility before you begin treatment for the disease, you may also still have the option of starting a family after you’ve been treated. Medical science is constantly advancing and treatment continues to improve, right along with reproductive options for men facing testicular cancer.