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Pregnancy test not a surefire testicular cancer test, despite teen boy’s success

Corbis

The story of a teenage boy in the U.K. diagnosed with testicular cancer after taking a pregnancy test got shared thousands of times online.

It sounds like an urban legend, but there is some truth to it. Pregnancy tests detect beta-hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin), which turns out to be the same hormone that is elevated in some men who have testicular cancer.

The U.K. teen said medical professionals used a pregnancy test to check his hormones. After being diagnosed and undergoing treatment he says he is now cancer free. Many commenters on the story have jumped to the conclusion that all men should go out and buy a pregnancy test to screen themselves.

Not so fast.

“Absolutely not, it could give false reassurance,” Dr. Padraig Warde, staff radiation oncologist at Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto, told Yahoo Canada News.

Dr. Nicholas Power, chair of the medical advisory board for Testicular Cancer Canada, agrees: “It’s not a recommended screening tool.”

The idea of using a pregnancy test to screen for testicular cancer has been floating around the Internet for years. Snopes.com, a site that debunks urban legends, dates the origins of this particular idea back to a 2012 Reddit post and rules it “partly true.”

The story gained momentum online so quickly that the American Cancer Society (ACS) wrote a post on it in 2012.

“At the time of diagnosis, only a small minority of men with testicular cancer have HCG levels high enough to be detected by a home urine pregnancy test,” said Dr. Ted Gansler, director of medical content with the ACS, in the post. “Current evidence does not indicate that screening the general population of men with a urine test for HCG (or with urine or blood tests for any other tumor marker) can find testicular cancer early enough to reduce testicular cancer death rates.”

Testicular cancer is the most common form of cancer in males 15-29 years of age, according to the Canadian Cancer Society. It is also highly treatable when caught early. There is no known, single cause for testicular cancer. Risk factors include males with a history of undescended testicle, as well as those with a family/personal history of testicular cancer.

If males notice a hard mass, anything painful or anything unusual below the belt, they should book an appointment with their family doctor immediately, advises Dr. Power, who is also an assistant professor at the University of Western Ontario and is based out of Victoria Hospital in London, Ont.

Dr. Warde says that even when men, or their partner, notice something, many delay seeking help.

“Young, healthy men think they’re invincible,” said Dr. Warde, a leader in the testicular cancer field, who teaches at the University of Toronto. “They are in the prime of their life so they don’t go to the doctor.”

Dr. Power also says young men in particular avoid getting regular checkups.

Both experts urge young males to make an appointment to see their doctor if it’s been a while, that way medical professionals can screen for testicular cancer, or anything else, as necessary.