Testicular cancer, or testis cancer, is most often found in young men. With the use of surgery, radiation therapy, and/or chemotherapy, this type of cancer is highly treatable, and it is often curable. Although the specific cause of testicular cancer is unknown, there are several risk factors related to the disease. These include age, family history, race, and cryptorchidism (undescended testicles). To explore this disease further, let us examine the following statistics associated with testicular cancer.
In the United States, approximately 7920 new cases of testicular cancer will be diagnosed in 2013.1
The disease is most often found in men between the ages of 20 and 45 years.2 In fact, 33 years was the median age at diagnosis for testicular cancer between 2005 and 2009.3
Although the risk of death from this disease is very small (about 1 in 5000), in 2013 approximately 370 men will die of testicular cancer.1
From 2005 to 2009, the median age at death for testicular cancer was 41 years, according to SEER.3
A man’s chance of developing testicular cancer in his lifetime is about 1 in 268.3 However, there are several risk factors associated with the disease that may increase that chance.
Non-Hispanic white men are more than 3 times more likely to develop testicular cancer than Asian American and Native American men and about 5 times more likely than black men. The risk for Hispanic men falls between that for Asians and non-Hispanic white men.1
Heredity has a slight influence on risk, yet only about 3% of testicular cancer cases occur within families.1
After having cancer in 1 testicle, men are at an increased risk of developing cancer in the other testicle, and it is estimated that 2% of men with testicular cancer will develop cancer in the other testicle.2
Between 2002 and 2008, the overall 5-year relative survival rate for this disease was 95.2%, among 18 SEER geographic areas.3
Sources 1. http://www.cancer.org/cancer/testicularcancer/detailed guide/index. 2. http://www.cancer.net/cancer-types/testicular-cancer. 3. http://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/testis.html.
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