# Testicular cancer -- left untreated

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/testicular-cancer-left-untreated/579827>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 26, 2011, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/testicular-cancer-left-untreated/579827 "2011-04-26T22:11:46Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![CheeseDonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@CheeseDonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheeseDonkey)\
**Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/testicular-cancer-left-untreated/579827/1 "2011-04-26T22:11:46Z")

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If I (or you, or someone) had testicular cancer but never knew about it, how long could I live with it before I died?

Assume I never had any hint it was there and never sought any medical treatment, even at the very end when the pain was no doubt unbearable.

The reason I ask is because I understand that it spreads “relatively quickly”, but no one ever says how quickly that is. I just want a gauge in comparison to other cancers like lung, kidney, et cetera.

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**Author:** ![CheeseDonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@CheeseDonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheeseDonkey)\
**Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/testicular-cancer-left-untreated/579827/2 "2011-04-26T22:37:51Z")

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By the way I’m not asking this because I think I have it. It is just out of curiosity, so please no “go see a doctor” responses 🙂

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**Author:** ![Crescend](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Crescend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crescend)\
**Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/testicular-cancer-left-untreated/579827/3 "2011-04-27T01:07:39Z")

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It depends on the type of testicular cancer. Just off the top of my head, there are seminomas, choriocarcinomas, yolk sac tumors, teratomas and mixed cell tumors. There’s almost certainly more categories than that. Also very important in determining the average life expectancy post-diagnosis are the stage and grade of the tumor when diagnosed, any expressed tumor markers, cytogenetics and what treatments are tried.

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**Author:** ![Implicit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Implicit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Implicit)\
**Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/testicular-cancer-left-untreated/579827/4 "2011-04-27T01:56:35Z")

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The doctor’s best guess when my brother died of untreated testicular cancer was that it had metastasized a few months earlier and that he’d had the cancer for at least a year.

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**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\
**Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/testicular-cancer-left-untreated/579827/5 "2011-04-27T02:05:16Z")

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Testicular cancer is considered relatively nonlethal, since it’s generally treatable if it hasn’t metastasized:

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Testicular\_cancer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Testicular_cancer)