What is a testicular tumor?

Testicular cancer occurs in testicular tissue, has a complex pathological origin, and is relatively rare clinically, accounting for about 1% of all male malignancies. The incidence population is mainly young men in their peak reproductive years, so it has a relatively large impact on society. However, testicular cancer has a high cure rate, with a survival rate of 95% or even higher. Therefore, in the field of oncology, testicular cancer is a very important malignant tumor. 1.Disease regression: Testicular cancer is currently the malignant solid tumor with the highest clinical cure rate. Even for patients with metastatic testicular cancer, they have a high chance of clinical cure through surgery and combined radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Therefore, it should be especially emphasized that the goal of treatment for testicular cancer is to achieve cure, rather than remission or prolonging survival time. 2.Clinical manifestations of the prevalent population; testicular cancer is most likely to occur in men aged 15-35. The incidence rate varies greatly around the world, with higher rates seen in many European countries and lower rates in the Far East, including China. The incidence rate is 6 per 100,000 men per year, but there is a trend of increasing incidence year by year. Cryptorchidism and viral infection are the risk factors for testicular cancer. 3.Symptoms of the disease: Most patients with testicular cancer visit the doctor because of testicular swelling. Accompanying symptoms include a feeling of heaviness or pain. Severe pain is rare. Because testicular cancer patients usually have a low sperm count, occasionally patients will be seen for infertility. About 25% of patients are seen for symptoms caused by metastases. Clinical manifestations of metastases include back pain, shortness of breath, chest pain, or hemoptysis. 4.Harm of disease: The incidence of testicular cancer is young and strong, although the cure rate is high, it has a great impact on the society and family. The treatment process of testicular tumor requires removal of the affected testicle, and the subsequent treatment such as retroperitoneal lymph node dissection, radiotherapy or chemotherapy will bring about corresponding adverse effects, which may affect the patient’s reproductive function. For example, retroperitoneal lymph node dissection may lead to ejaculation disorders and intestinal adhesions, and chemotherapy may lead to pulmonary fibrosis. Overall chemotherapy and radiotherapy can reduce fertility by about 30%, with radiotherapy having the greatest impact. In addition, a small number (about 2-3%) of patients with testicular cancer have bilateral lesions. Diagnosis of testicular cancer includes laboratory diagnosis, imaging diagnosis and pathological diagnosis: Laboratory diagnosis: mainly serum β-HCG, AFP and LDH tests, which are important for treatment, follow-up and prognosis. β-HCG is synthesized by syncytial trophoblast cells, with a serum half-life of 24-36 hours, and is elevated in the blood of patients with choriocarcinoma, embryonal carcinoma and spermatogonial carcinoma. AFP is elevated in pure embryonal carcinoma, teratocarcinoma, yolk sac tumors and mixed tumors, but is not synthesized in pure choriocarcinoma and pure spermatogonial carcinoma. The time it takes for LDH to fall to normal may indicate the prognosis of the patient, especially for intermediate risk patients, the longer the time to normalization, the worse the prognosis. Diagnostic imaging: Ultrasound of the scrotum can help to confirm a mass in the testis and is the clinical method of choice. Abdominopelvic CT is used to understand the presence of lymph node metastases, and chest plain radiographs and CT are used to evaluate the presence of pulmonary metastases. Therefore, abdominal/pelvic CT is an important basis for staging and grading of all patients. Positron emission tomography (PET) in post-treatment follow-up has high sensitivity and specificity for residual tumor evaluation after treatment. (1) Pathological diagnosis: Although puncture biopsy of testicular tumors can make a definite diagnosis, there is a risk of tumor implantation and metastasis, so transcrotal testicular puncture biopsy should be prohibited. (2) Differential diagnosis: The differential diagnosis of testicular cancer includes intra-testicular epididymal or dermatomal cyst, testicular torsion, epididymitis, epididymal-orchitis, syringomyelia, etc. 6.Disease treatment treatment principle: After serological laboratory tests, chest X-ray, abdominal or pelvic CT and other examinations, testicular cancer patients should receive inguinal access root canal. They should receive radical orchiectomy by inguinal approach. Follow-up treatment is mainly based on clinical stage, tumor histological characteristics and tumor marker status. 7.Treatment methods: There are several treatment methods for testicular cancer, including radical testicular resection, retroperitoneal lymph node dissection, adjuvant radiotherapy, intravenous chemotherapy, etc. 8.Prognosis of disease: Testicular cancer has a high cure rate, and the survival rate can reach 95% or even higher through comprehensive treatment.