Edward Gibbon, an English historian and politician, once quipped, "History is indeed little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind." This episode, which lacks historians and politicians, covers testicular cancer, a topic humankind has had a love-hate relationship with for millennia. As a historical concept in the middle ages, men who wanted to have a male as an offspring would sometimes remove their left testicles as the belief was that "boy" sperm was made in the right testicle and "girl" sperm in the left.

We don't entertain such nonsense here on Oncology for the Inquisitive Mind. Instead, we discuss testicular cancer, an uplifting episode with high cure rates and a debate regarding observation versus treatment. Will there be a future when one can perform surgery alone? Does radiotherapy have a role, and do the pros outweigh the cons of chemotherapy?

Links to studies discussed in this episode (subscription may be required):

EORTC 30982 study: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21282539/

Comparison of Two Standard Chemotherapy Regimens for Good-Prognosis Germ Cell Tumors: Updated Analysis of a Randomized Trial: https://academic.oup.com/jnci/article/102/16/1253/2568956

For more episodes, resources and blog posts, visit www.inquisitiveonc.com

Please find us on Twitter @InquisitiveOnc!

If you want us to look at a specific trial or subject, email us at [email protected]

Art courtesy of Taryn Silver

Music courtesy of Music Unlimited: https://pixabay.com/users/music_unlimited-27600023/

Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only. If you are unwell, seek medical advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.