In 2019, the American Cancer Society estimates that there will be over 1.7 million new cancer cases diagnosed in the United States alone. Of those, testicular cancer is one of the more rare diseases: only about 1 in every 250 men will develop it, which amounts to approximately 9,560 new cases this year. About 410 of these cases will turn out to be lethal. While it seems that testicular cancer is fairly rare, it has been on the rise for the past several decades in the U.S. and several other countries. The rise has mostly been in seminomas, or germ cell tumors most often found in the testicle; researchers haven’t been able to find the underlying reasons for this increase. Luckily, the rate of increase has been slowing down as of late. On average, individuals who are diagnosed with testicular cancer are around 33 years old. However, approximately 6% of all cases are found in children and teenagers, and 8% occur in men older than 55. What’s more is that testicular cancer is often successfully treated: only about 1 in 5,000 men succumb to the disease. The disease’s overall five year survival rate is 90%; this means that individuals with testicular cancer are 90% as likely as those without the disease to live for at least five years post-diagnosis. While the prognosis when it comes to testicular cancer is generally more positive than other cancers, we still have work to do; the earlier we catch cancer, the higher the survival rates will continue to climb.
