Surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy, and bone marrow transplants
(BMT) are all used to treat testicular cancer. Depending on all the factors
involved, a patient’s treatment may include just one method or a combination of
methods.
In most cases, the testicle is surgically removed (orchiectomy). In
addition, sometimes surgery may be recommended to remove the lymph nodes (lymphadenectomy)
from the abdomen, which helps to stop the spread of the cancer. Tumors that
have spread to other parts of the body may also need to be removed.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is the use of anti-cancer drugs such as cistaplin,
etoposide, ifosfamide, vinblastine, and bleomycin (among more than 100 others)
to destroy cancer cells. When there are signs that the cancer has spread to
other parts of the body, chemotherapy is usually recommended. Sometimes
anti-cancer drugs are used as a secondary treatment (following radiation or
surgery) for early stages of cancer. This is called adjuvant therapy and
its purpose is to destroy any remaining cells that may have gone undetected.
Chemotherapy may be given orally, as an injection, or through an I.V
(intravenously). It can also be administered directly into the spinal column.
Regardless of the manner in which it is taken, it is a systemic treatment,
meaning that the drugs enter the bloodstream and travel to cells all over the
body.
Some patients are hospitalized for all or part of the treatments they
receive, others are able to take their chemotherapy drugs as an outpatient at
the doctor’s office, hospital, or even at home. That all depends on the drugs
being given and the overall condition of the patient.
Radiation Therapy
Radiation therapy is also known as cobalt treatment, irradiation,
radiotherapy, and x-ray therapy. The treatment is usually done as an
outpatient and consists of high-energy rays directed at the cancer cells in
order to kill them, thereby stopping their growth. Radiation is a localized
treatment, meaning it affects only the cells in the treated area.
Seminomas are sensitive to radiation. Men with seminomas who did not have
lymphadenectomy are often given radiation therapy to their abdominal lymph
nodes after the tumor-removing surgery.
Non-seminomas are less responsive to radiation and usually treated with the
other methods.
Bone Marrow Transplant
Bone marrow, the source of all blood cells, is a soft, spongy tissue found
in the center of most large bones. A bone marrow transplant is a procedure that
replaces damaged or diseased bone marrow with healthy bone marrow.
In an autologous bone marrow transplant the replacement marrow is
harvested from the patient. If the marrow is from an identical twin it is
called a syngeneic transplant. If the marrow is from any other donor the
procedure is termed an allogeneic transplant.