Self Examination

Testicular cancer, although relatively rare, is the most common malignancy in men in the 15- to 35-year age group and evokes widespread interest for several reasons. Testicular cancer has become one of the most curable solid neoplasms and serves as a paradigm for the multimodal treatment of malignancies. Of course the testicular malignancies are more effectively treated when diagnosed early, the pivotal role of self examination (14-40 years of age) during showering could help the young patients to detect any abnormality and refer it to the physician.

The dramatic improvement in survival resulting from the combination of effective diagnostic techniques, improved tumor markers, effective multidrug chemotherapeutic regimens, and modifications of surgical technique has led to a decrease in patient mortality from more than 50% before 1970 to less than 5% in 1997. With the availability of effective treatment, even for patients with advanced disease, attention has been turned to reduction of morbidity by altering therapeutic protocols in selected subsets of patients.