Words to know: Testicular cancer
- Testicle (testis)
- One of two glands in the scrotum that make sperm and testosterone.
- Scrotum
- The sac of skin that holds the testicles.
- Germ cell tumor
- A tumor that starts in the cells that make sperm. Almost all testicular cancers are this type.
- Seminoma
- A type of germ cell tumor that tends to grow slowly and responds to chemotherapy and radiation.
- Nonseminoma
- A type of germ cell tumor that may grow faster. It responds to chemotherapy but not radiation.
- Teratoma
- A part of some nonseminomas that does not respond to chemotherapy and must be removed with surgery.
- Tumor marker
- A substance in the blood that can be made by cancer cells.
- AFP
- Alpha-fetoprotein. A tumor marker made by some nonseminomas, never by pure seminoma.
- hCG
- Human chorionic gonadotropin. A tumor marker made by some testicular cancers.
- LDH
- Lactate dehydrogenase. A blood test that reflects how much cancer is in the body.
- Radical inguinal orchiectomy
- Surgery to remove the whole testicle through a cut in the groin.
- Testicular prosthesis
- A soft implant placed in the scrotum to look and feel like a testicle.
- Cryptorchidism
- A testicle that did not move down into the scrotum before birth or in early childhood.
- Retroperitoneal lymph nodes
- Lymph nodes at the back of the belly, where testicular cancer often spreads first.
- RPLND
- Retroperitoneal lymph node dissection. Surgery to remove lymph nodes at the back of the belly.
- Active surveillance
- Close follow-up with tests instead of more treatment right away.
- BEP
- A chemotherapy combination of bleomycin, etoposide, and cisplatin.
- Risk group
- Good, intermediate, or poor. Used to plan how much chemotherapy is needed when cancer has spread.
- Lymphovascular invasion
- Cancer cells found in small blood or lymph vessels. It raises the chance of the cancer coming back.
- Sperm banking
- Freezing and storing sperm to use later to have children.
- Stem cell transplant
- Collecting your own blood-forming stem cells and giving them back after very high-dose chemotherapy.
- Testosterone
- The main male hormone, made mostly by the testicles.
- Metastatic
- Cancer that has spread from where it started to other parts of the body.
Last updated: 2026-10-27. Medically reviewed by Veli Bakalov, MD, medical oncologist (October 2026). General education from Step by Step, the patient portal of HemeOncBuddy.