> Testicular cancer has one of the highest cure rates of all cancers: a five-year survival rate in excess of 90 percent overall, and almost 100 percent if it has not spread (metastasized).[6] Even for the relatively few cases in which malignant cancer has spread widely, modern chemotherapy offers a cure rate of at least 80%.[7]
Obviously, awareness still helps. (And openness. I had an ultrasound when I was 16 (turned out to be a hydrocele), but I think it was a few weeks from when I noticed the lumy to when I told my mum about it, because how do you bring something like that up?)
And how do you detect it before it spreads, if the issue is completely ignored and people aren't made aware that they should check for abnormalities and take them serious when they encounter them?
Especially for men, who (I think it is a well-deserved stereotype) tend to avoid going to a doctor for anything short of dismemberment.
I don't know. But it looks like currently we do detect it before it spreads, most of the time. So I guess your question has either an answer (e.g. "other symptoms manifest sufficiently early"), or an incorrect premise (e.g. "people actually are aware that they should check").
This isn't a great example, because testicular cancer is rarely fatal. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Testicular_cancer
> Testicular cancer has one of the highest cure rates of all cancers: a five-year survival rate in excess of 90 percent overall, and almost 100 percent if it has not spread (metastasized).[6] Even for the relatively few cases in which malignant cancer has spread widely, modern chemotherapy offers a cure rate of at least 80%.[7]
Obviously, awareness still helps. (And openness. I had an ultrasound when I was 16 (turned out to be a hydrocele), but I think it was a few weeks from when I noticed the lumy to when I told my mum about it, because how do you bring something like that up?)