Treatment - Columbia Urology

About Treatment

When treated in its early stages, testicular cancer can be cured in nearly all patients. Even if the disease has spread, surgery and chemotherapy can result in survival rates of 85%. Surgery to remove the cancerous testicle is the primary treatment for localized testicular cancer. Seminoma cells are extremely sensitive to radiation, so doctors frequently use external beam radiation therapy following surgery to sterilize any cancer cells that may have spread to the pelvic or abdominal lymph nodes.

Doctors treat testicular cancers other than seminomas with a combination of multiple drug chemotherapy regimens delivered over a period of up to four months, in some cases with additional surgery.

Surgery to treat advanced testicular cancer is one of the most complex challenges in urology. This procedure, known as retroperitoneal lymph node dissection (RPLND), has historically been associated with a high complication rate. Columbia University Department of Urology at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital surgeon Dr. James M. McKiernan has extensive experience and an outstanding track record state-of-the-art nerve sparing surgical techniques to prevent the complications of RPLND without compromising cancer cure rates.

Prevention

Since undescended testicles are a risk factor for testicular cancer, boys who have this condition should have their testicles surgically placed in the scrotum before the age of six. Even after this surgery, boys should undergo periodic examination for any suspicious changes.