Biopsy for suspected testicular cancer

ABSTRACT

The current practice of radical orchidectomy for any lesion in the testis, suspected of being malignant is not keeping with an important principle of surgery, viz., that one should always biopsy before radical surgery. This paper discusses the risk of blind orchidectomy, and of testicular biopsy done after clamping the chord. Methods of preventing warm ischaemia are discussed and the possibilities of obtaining a firm diagnosis without biopsy are explored. An attempt has been made to identify the groups of individuals at risk for testicular cancer. These should be kept under surveillance and the testis subjected to biopsy at the slightest suspicion of a mass