TC Awareness

Returning to this topic with some more facts.

1. Testicular is the number one cancer in males 20-34 years old.
2. It is more common in whites then other racial groups.
3. There are only about 8000 cases per year in the US, compared to 91,000 cases of breast cancer.
4. The five year survivorship rate of TC (a common way of comparing cancers, apples to apples; doesn't mean you drop dead in year six) is 90%.  I don't have numbers for other cancers, but they are always lower, if not significantly lower.

The most high profile TC survivor is Lance Armstrong.  He was diagnosed in 1996 at the age of 25.  He ignored his symptoms for many months and by the time he was diagnosed and treated he had a multitude of tumors (brain, lungs, abdomen) and a great survivor story.

Eric Shanteau is a more recent athlete who was diagnosed at age 24, about two weeks prior to travelling to Beijing to swim for the U.S. Olympic team.  He postponed his o/e so that he could compete.  Article here.

John Kruk was a major league baseball player (and now ESPN commentator) who was diagnosed at 33 in 1994.  On his return when he didn't get much playing time he wore a T-shirt which read "If you don't let me play, I'm going to take my ball and go home."

Tom Greene, the canadian comedian that had a MTV show was diagnosed at age 29 in 2000.

On the front page of April 21st 2009 NY times, there was an article on heath care and layoffs which included a profile of a family with a 21 year old who is under surveillance for TC.  I was surprised how expensive things are and it made me grateful for the insurance that I have.