HOME

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Could a pregnancy test help detect testicular cancer in a man? The truth...


If you’ve seen or heard about the Facebook post in which a pregnancy test revealed testicular cancer in a man, it’s true. 

The unidentified man took the test as a joke and posted the positive result. Comments that followed advised the man to get to the doctor, STAT. He did - and discovered he did indeed have testicular cancer.

According to Dr. Mark Pomerantz, oncologist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, a number of testicular cancers make the same hormone, beta hCG, as is produced by a developing placenta. He says there are very few things in the body that produce beta hCG, and testicular cancer is one of them.

While this fluke of a joke may have been a blessing in disguise for this one man, it's no substitute for a self exam. It is recommended that men do a self-exam once a month. Skip the pregnancy test and go straight to the doctor if you notice anything out of the ordinary.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Post your Wisdom