Potential TC diagnosis

Hi counbey,

Sorry you find yourself here, but welcome.

The chances of it not being malignant after the ultrasound picks it up are slim.  I think I’ve read 2 cases on here where post op the biopsy came back as non cancerous.

TC is a relatively slow spreader, a couple of weeks will make no difference to the ultomate Outcome.

The toughest part is often the waiting for appotments and results.  It’s easy said, but try not to let your mind get away with you.  95% of us are here 5 years later to tell our tale.

use this forum, ask any questions you have

tske care

dan

Hi,

Sorry to hear you've joined this "club".

I'm not a doctor, but from reading a lot on TC and also speaking to oncologists about TC, unfortunately a tumour / mass that is found by an ultrasound is usually malignant, IE, cancer. There are cases where an orchiectomy is conducted and the mass is found not to be cancer, but it's rare.

As the risk of a biopsy means any cancerous cells can be spread into the scrotal sac, the procedure if any suspicious mass shows up in an ultrasound is for an orchiectomy (surgery to remove the testicle in its entirety) performed by the urologist.

After the operation, the testicle will be sent to a pathologist for analysis and the report will be sent back to the urologist / oncologist to identify what type of tumour it is (seminoma or non-seminoma, which are treated differently should adjuvant treatment- chemotherapy- be considered), and whether it has spread beyond the testicle (this is called Staging which then informs the oncologist on the next steps).

The waiting is the worst part, but please know that TC is highly treatable / curable if detected early, and even if in more advanced stages, can be treated with a high success rate.

I had my orchiectomy in Dec last year just before Xmas, and in the New Year was informed that I had a Stage 1 seminoma. I opted for 2 cycles of Carboplatin (chemotherapy) as adjuvant treatment. I completed my second cycle about 3 weeks ago, and feel fine now. On the one hand, I found reading a lot about TC on the internet helped inform me and prepare me for what to expect; on the other hand, it's important sometimes also not to read (and hence worry) too much and take a step back, remembering that the "big picture" is very high treatability and survival rates of 99% in many cases. I found that reading about the experiences of others on this forum was tremendously comforting, and other "members" of this club were very helpful in responding to questions.

Good luck.

best, Kevin

Hi Dan

many thanks for your reply. To be honest it is just the waiting that is making me anxious however I do take notice of the fact that I’ve got the most treatable cancer if it does get confirmed. 

Hi Kevin

thank you so much for such a detailed reply. Can’t begin to explain how refreshing it is to talk to other people on the same journey and for things to be explained in simple terms. As I said in my initial post my GP was very hesitant in discussing it at all with me. Roll on Friday where hopefully I will get some more answers!! 

Thanks again 

Ant

Hi Ant,

I think GPs don't want to go into too much detail, in deference to the specialists (urologist and oncologist). And in all honesty, as TC is actually a rare cancer, it is better to speak to the specialists who are more likely to have specific experience and seen more cases of TC than a GP would have.

When I was reading up on TC, I found this site to be very informative- http://thetcrc.org

I found it gave me a lot of information so I was prepared (when I met the urologist for the results of my pathology report, and subsequently when I met the oncologist to discuss adjuvant treatment options in my case) to ask very specific questions. There is a lot of information on the site, so I took my time to read and digest and re-read it all.

Good luck,

Best, Kevin