The growing-a-moustache campaign of Movember raises awareness about testicle and prostrate cancer.
According to the website www.cancer.net some men who contract testicular cancer experience a variety of symptoms or signs, while others do not show any symptoms.
The first sign of testicular cancer is often an enlargement of the testicle.
Other symptoms of testicular cancer may include:
- A painless lump or swelling on either testicle. If detected early, a testicular tumour may be about the size of a pea or a marble, but it can grow much larger.
- Pain or discomfort, with or without swelling, in a testicle or the scrotum. Pain can be caused by many different conditions, including an infection, injury, twisting, and cancer. If an infection is suspected, a patient may be given antibiotics, but if it does not solve the problem, tests for testicular cancer have to be done.
- Change in the way a testicle feels or a feeling of heaviness in the scrotum.
- Dull ache in the lower abdomen or groin.
- A build-up of fluid in the scrotum.
- Although rare, some testicular tumours produce hormones that cause breast tenderness or growth of breast tissue.
- Although many other diseases can also cause lower back pain, shortness of breath, chest pain and bloody sputum or phlegm, these can be symptoms of later-stage testicular cancer.
- Swelling of one or both legs or shortness of breath from a blood clot.
Most often, testicular cancer can be detected at an early stage and men often find the cancer themselves while performing self-examinations.
Some doctors recommend that men between the ages of 15 and 55 perform a monthly self-examination to identify the changes in their bodies.
Men who notice a lump, hardness, enlargement, pain, or any other change in one or both of their testicles should visit their doctor immediately.
About prostrate cancer the website www.cancer.org says this type of cancer is very rare in men younger than 40 years.
The chance of getting prostate cancer rises rapidly after the age 50 and about six in 10 cases of prostate cancers are found in men over the age of 65.
The website www.cancerquest.org highlighted the symptoms associated with early-stage prostate cancer:
- Discontinuous or weak urine flow.
- Difficulty in starting or stopping urine flow.
- Frequent urination, especially at night.
- Blood in the urine.
- Pain or burning with urination.
- Continuous back, pelvis, or upper thigh pain.
Read more about Movember here.
