[Diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of testicular cancer]

[Awareness of clinical relevance of malignant testicular cancer among university students : The value of ​prevention campaigns]

BACKGROUND

Early detection of localized testicular cancer is associated with a significantly better prognosis compared to advanced tumor stages. Testicular cancer prevention campaigns like "Hodencheck.de" launched by the German Society of Urology or the international campaign "Movember Foundation" want to inform and raise awareness about testicular cancer and other male cancers. This study aimed to evaluate to which extent public prevention campaigns may influence the behavior of young men and women in Germany.

OBJECTIVES

Questionnaires were used to ask students at the University of Frankfurt, Germany, whether they are familiar with the currently most widespread testicular cancer prevention campaigns and whether testicular examinations for cancer screening were performed by themselves, a partner or a physician.

RESULTS

Only a minority of the students were aware of the testicular cancer prevention campaigns "Hodencheck.de" and/or "Movember Foundation"; 79.9% of the male and 83.6% of female students had not heard of the two mentioned prevention campaigns. Significantly more male (35.2%) compared to female students (28.9%) knew that testicular cancer is the most common cancer in young men. Of the men, 48.9% had already palpated their testicles, while only 12.4% of the women had already palpated the partner's testicles for cancer screening. Students knowing about the testicular cancer prevention campaigns performed significantly more testicular examinations for screening purposes.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study demonstrates that current testicular cancer prevention campaigns are little known amongst German university students. However, the knowledge of testicular cancer prevention campaigns resulted in an increased awareness and an increased willingness for testicular (self-) examinations.