PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Testicular Cancer (8 June 2016)

According to the Office for National Statistics, for men diagnosed with testicular cancer between 2009 and 2013 the one year survival estimate was 98.3% and the five year survival estimate was 97.0%, the highest survival rates for any type of cancer.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has issued guidance on the organisation of healthcare for people with a urological cancer, including testicular cancer - Improving outcomes in urological cancers (NICE guidelines CSG2, September 2002). The guidance recommends which healthcare professionals should be involved in treatment and care, and the types of hospital or cancer centre that are best suited to provide that healthcare. The guidance can be found at this link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/csg2

Improving the early diagnosis of cancer is a priority for this Government, and was highlighted as a strategic priority in the report Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes published in July 2015 by the independent Cancer Taskforce. In order to continue to support general practitioners (GPs) to identify patients whose symptoms may indicate cancer and urgently refer them as appropriate, NICE published an updated suspected cancer referral guideline in June 2015, which encourages GPs to think of cancer sooner and lowers the threshold for referral. The guideline can be found at this link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng12

The health website NHS Choices includes information about the symptoms of testicular cancer and encourages men to be aware of what feels normal for them and to seek help from their GP if they notice any changes. This information can be found at this link:

www.nhs.uk/conditions/Cancer-of-the-testicle/Pages/Introduction.aspx