There will be almost 900 cases diagnosed this year, with 30 men dying

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• Learn how to do a testicular self-examination

It doesn't make the top 15 list of the most diagnosed, but nonetheless, it's just as serious.

"As cancer goes, testicular cancer is not one that's diagnosed in as large a number as would be for breast cancer in women or prostate cancer in men, lung or colorectal cancer, they are much more common cancers," said Jan MacVinnie, manager of cancer information service for the Canadian Cancer Society.

However, like all other cancers, testicular cancer needs to be diagnosed and treated as early as possible in order for people who are diagnosed to have the best chances of survival. This year, MacVinnie said it's estimated there will be 890 new cases of testicular cancer in Canada. Thirty of those cases will result in death.

But while its potential severity is akin to any other cancer, it does have some unique traits. One of which, MacVinnie said, is that it will affect younger men - testicular cancer is diagnosed in teens and young men from the ages of 15 to the late 40s.

"For most types of cancers, the majority of them will occur in people after the age of 50 so testicular cancer is quite unique in that way," she said.

There is no concrete evidence, MacVinnie said, but there are two theories as to what may be contributing to testicular cancer affecting males at such a young age. One is a condition called cryptorchidism, where a boy was born with a testicle that did not descended into the scrotum.

"If that's not corrected at a young age, it can increase the risk of testicular cancer," she said.

The other condition is called Klinefelter's Syndrome, which is present at birth but can become apparent in adolescence.

"It can include small testicles, enlarged breasts and lack of secondary sexual characteristics such as a low voice, facial hair and infertility so it's obviously something related to hormones and hormone production and adolescence," MacVinnie said.

Often, men don't like to go to the doctor and many men feel it's anything but macho to have to go to the doctor for a potential problem in their testicles. MacVinnie said this is a common issue with testicular cancer and men must put aside that thinking and tackle the problem.

"They ignore it or say 'Oh well, I don't need to worry about that' or admit, 'This seems different from how it was last month, I should probably have that looked that'" she said.

One way males can be proactive in their testicular health is by performing a TSE, or testicular self-examination, on a regular basis. MacVinnie said while that sounds like a formal thing to do, it can be as informal as noticing something different when they're just feeling around.

The best time to perform a TSE is after coming out of a warm shower or bath because the muscles are relaxed and the small pea-sized lump, which is the most common beginning symptom, is more noticeable. However, there are several symptoms to be aware of.

"They may notice tenderness or lumps (in the testicle), swelling or a difference in size or shape," she said. "It may be painless or the testicle itself could be painful and sometimes there is a feeling of heavy ache in the lower abdomen or in the scrotal area."

If left untreated, MacVinnie said the symptoms could worsen to include weight loss, shortness of breath, a cough and chest pains.

Testicular cancer has stages 1, 2 and 3.

"Stage 1 usually means it's confined to the testicle and it hasn't spread to any lymph nodes or surrounding tissue. If it gets to Stage 2, it can be in surrounding tissue or be a larger tumour and by Stage 3 it means it could have spread into the lymph nodes or even to places like the lungs."

There are two major types of testicular cancer, seminoma and non-seminoma that differ in how they look under the microscope, the patterns of how they spread, their response to treatment and their prognosis percentages.

The good news is the prognosis for both types is more than 70 per cent, even if the cancer has spread through the body. Some even have a more than 90 per cent cure rate. MacVinnie said that's another unique trait of the disease that "it has a very good prognosis overall."

Treatment consists of either an operation to remove the testicle with the tumour, possibly be followed by chemotherapy if cancer has spread throughout the body, or radiation treatment.

"It may involve an operation for the removal of one testicle or both if it may have spread," she said.

Many men also fear they lose their ability to have children after an operation, but MacVinnie said if only the affected one is removed, which is common, most men can still have children.

Regardless of the prognosis, MacVinnie said people should go to the doctor immediately if they notice anything out of the ordinary. MacVinnie said for any type of cancer, the sooner you know you have it, the sooner you can get treatment and the better the prognosis.