Testicular Cancer

            
             Testicular cancer is cancer that typically develops in one or both testicles in young men. It is a highly treatable and usually curable form of cancer. It is the most common type of cancer in men 15-35 today, although it accounts only for 1% of all cancers in men. The testicles contain several types of cells, each of which may develop into one or more types of cancer.
             Over 90% of cancers of the testicle develop in certain cells known as germ cells (these cells produce sperm). The 2 main types of germ cell tumors that occur in men are seminomas and nonseminomas. These tumors can be separated into 2 major categories, according to their differences in appearance under the microscope, different patterns of spread, and somewhat different responses to treatment. Most omnipresent testicular germ cell cancers begin as a noninvasive form of the disease called carcinoma in situ (CIS) or intratubular germ cell neoplasia. Researchers have estimated that it takes about 5 years for CIS to progress to the invasive form of germ cell cancer. When a testicular cancer becomes all encompassing, its cells have broken through the surrounding tissues and may have spread through either the blood circulation or the lymph nodes (small, bean-shaped collections of white blood cells that fight infection) and lymphatic channels (fluid-filled vessels that connect the series of lymph nodes) to other parts of the body. .
             Seminomas develop from the sperm-producing germ cells of the testicle. The 2 main subtypes of these tumors are classical (or typical) seminomas and spermatocytic seminomas, and they are distinguished by their appearance under the microscope. Over 95% of seminomas are classical. These usually occur in men between the ages of 30 and 60; most men are somewhere between their late 30s and early 50s, an older population than those with nonseminomas. Most spermatocytic tumors grow very slowly and usually do not metastasize (spread to other parts of the body).