Unveiling the Taboo: Awareness of Testicular Cancer & Testicular Self Examination

Abstract

Male sexual and reproductive health is as important as the well-being of other organ-systems. The female breast cancer awareness mission acquired it's Renaissance in Pakistan, a decade back, but the male sexual and reproductive health is a topic almost untouched. The month of April is celebrated as the month of Testicular Cancer (TC) awareness worldwide, as declared by the American Association for Cancer Research.

Among the males aged 20-40 years, TC is the most common malignancy encountered worldwide. It is the second most common malignant neoplasm of teenagers aged 15-19 years.¹ Of all the malignancies in males, TC has a reported frequency of 0.5-1.5%.² According to Globocan 2012, the incidence of new cases of TC worldwide was 0.4% which remained constantly the same in 2020, but the number of cases of TC increased significantly worldwide. The incidence of mortality related to TC was documented to increase from zero percent to 0.1% in Globocan 2020 fact sheets^3,4.