without a surgery

[sharl]

Hi, All
i was diagnosed with Seminima (stage1) 26 0ct 2006 and decided i want to win this with my own body and spirit, already started
I have only 1 testicular (a surgery when i was 2 months old)

1. Anyone heard about someone who succeded to win this cancer without a surgery.
2. Any idea how bad it could get in 2-3 months?

have a great day,
Sharl

[djmac]

Hi Sharl,

I read one case study where a marijuana smoker had spontaneously regressed anaplastic seminoma in his lymph nodes. He had the orchiectomy, and his disease staged. He refused further treatment, but returned four months later to get it, and they found his disease was gone .

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=12151969&query_hl=3&itool=pubmed_docsum

They do not think that marihuana had anything to do with it, but mention it as the only thing that was remarkable about the man.

Still, he had the orchiectomy and his disease properly staged. Why don't you? I understand that its your last remaining testicle, but your chances of survival may be quite small without treatment. In some places (Europe), radiotherapy of your lone testicle may be performed. This will almost guarantee to kill your seminoma as well as your fertility (which may already be dead anyway), but will preserve the radiation resistant leydig cells, which should continue to produce testosterone for you. So try to bank some sperm, and get your ball nuked if you can. Your chances of beating this thing are almost nil.

As far as 2-3 months from now... It's hard to say...anything from little or no growth in the tumor to death is possible.

Good Luck

djm

PS If you haven't had the orchiectomy, how do you know what kind you have?

[Scott]

Sharl, djmac's postscript question is the right place to start: if you haven't already had surgery and other tests, how do you know you have testicular cancer?

[Michael112]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/bv.fcgi?rid=cmed6.section.43075

Leydig cells arnt cockaroaches.

My endocrinologist said if I was to have radiationtherapy I could kiss my remaining testicle good bye.

Tumor of the testicle can reduce mortality of sperm comming from that testicle by a lot.
sharl you should bank sperm asap.


sharl if it is cancer and you plan to go el naturale, because it is a primary tumour your testicle will just become one big tumour wich will increase its chances of spreading. Primary seminomas are like a brain tumor in the sense that theres a blood brain barrier, and a blood testicle barrier, so not everything is going to cross over and affect it.
If you were to have the surgery you would need hormone replacement therapy, but 2ndary seminoma tumours are difrent to primarys in the sense that, theres more hope of regression.

spontaneously regressed anaplastic seminoma in his lymph nodes.

You gotta tell that tumour if you cant stand the heat stay the **** out of the abdomen.

[sharl]

without a surgery

probably everyone heard of peole that won cancer with other eays than what doctors suggest, so why is it ont possible with this cancer?
1. maybe because docotrs have already found a good way to deal with it so why trying?
any ideas?
(i am suspected to be with seminoma since there is no sigh in my blood tests for cancer.)

[Scott]

Sharl, there are proven cures for testicular cancer. However, if you really do have cancer and you don't get treatment, it will kill you.

Have you had an ultrasound, and what did it show? What is your doctor telling you?

[dadmo]

sharl:
It's always possible for cancer to just leave on it's own account but you have a much better chance of winning the lottery. As Scott said if you don't have the cancer removed it will kill you, and it won't be pleasant.

[Mom]

Sharl, my husband has been without testicles since 1980. It is a small price to pay for his life. He has done really well with TRT. Don't be a fool. Go bank sperm. Have the surgery. Suck it up. Dianne

[djmac]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/bv....section.43075
Leydig cells arnt cockaroaches.

My endocrinologist said if I was to have radiationtherapy I could kiss my remaining testicle good bye.

Michael, 'resistant' is not the same as 'proof'. Leydig cells are in fact relatively resistant to radiation. This is why you can have scenarios like these:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=10624852&query_hl=2&itool=pubmed_docsum

Regards,

djm

[Michael112]

Every doctor needs google, if I ever see my endo again(he uses google) I will show him that link, he told me if I have RT I can kiss my remaining testicle goodbye.

[djmac]

Every doctor needs google, if I ever see my endo again(he uses google) I will show him that link, he told me if I have RT I can kiss my remaining testicle goodbye.

I am a doctor (Ph.D. in Human Genetics), and I've studied cancer (prostate). I can look up and track down references like the best of them... but I always defer opinions to the superb (MD) cancer docs who are treating me, as they have the real practical experience. Certainly, I've read about cases where permanent sterility MAY have been caused by scatter radiation, and there have been very few cases of using radiotherapy in the context that I referred to above. Remember, this treatment is never done in the United States to my knowledge, so I would say its experimental. As the reference discusses, there is damage to the leydig cells, and reduced testosterone, but for those 2 patients at least, TRT was not required.

Another thing, I wonder how many cancers in the contralateral testis are caused by adjuvant radiation as opposed to just bad luck and environmental problems. Remember, one truism of cancer is that the tumor cells have similar characteristics to the originating organ. To wit, seminoma cells are 'exquisitly sensitive' to radiation, as are normal sperm cells. So I can imagine some damage everytime your cell-phone is in your pocket, you get radiation therapy, or you get zipped through a CT scanner. Likewise the properties of the original tissue may explain why spontaneous regression of lymph node metastasis is sometimes seen, since sperm cells are also heat sensitive.

Anyway, I still have to bank sperm... the spectre of adjuvant radiation, full radiation therapy, or chemo, is always looming, and I want to get married really soon.

Regards,
djm

PS In addition to google, go to www.pubmed.com for primary information (medical journals, etc.) Without an institutional license or a personal subscription, you won't be able to access the full versions of most journals, but you can get a lot of info from the abstracts. If you are really interested in a particular full version, contact me by PM, and I'll see if I can provide one to you. Alternatively, you can use your local University or Library, which may have site licenses.

[clyde_on]

I am no expert but in the UK ....

In the UK advances are being made to spare the I/O .
Chemo with carboplatin.
I know you could find a med ONC in the usa to give you this treatment.
Also:
If i understand it right Chemo won't make you unable to father a child in the future.
In addition if chemo can remove it from the retro lymphs why cant it get at your testical? JUst a thought...



Speaking of Google give this a read:

http://annonc.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/17/2/276

[Scott]

Good thing you spoke up, Rover! Having no surgery isn't a good option, but it's certainly worth exploring whether the treatment you had is.

[Michael112]

In addition if chemo can remove it from the retro lymphs why cant it get at your testical? JUst a thought...

Like the blood-brain barrier, the testicles have it aswell, so the chemo used wont make it to the testicle.

Thanks djmac... or should I say Doctor.

[MRM]

Partial orchiectomies are sometimes done (I had one), but success is so-so. I ended up having the rest of the second testicle removed.

Even if you end up with no testicles, you will be fine. I am.

I can't believe having one testicle is so central to your sense of self that you'd risk dying to keep it.