As a result of modern day methods of treatment, the majority of men who develop testicular cancer will be completely cured.

In recent years, studies have looked at the long-term outcome for men who have had testicular cancer treated in the past, to see whether they are at risk of developing further cancers.

The results of these surveys show an increased risk of developing cancers of the digestive system (especially the stomach), cancers of the remaining testicle and leukaemia. However, the actual numbers who do develop a second cancer are small.

To put the figures in perspective, for every 2000 men who have a testicular cancer treated, about 25 will develop a cancer of their digestive system in later life (about 10 of these will be stomach cancers), 20 will develop a cancer of their remaining testis and about 4 will develop leukaemia.

Even if one of these other cancers does develop then they can often be very successfully treated.

There is some evidence that the type of treatment given alters the degree of risk. Leukaemia is linked to either radiotherapy (including the dose and what part of the body the radiotherapy was given to) or chemotherapy with a drug called cisplatin, and the digestive cancers are linked to radiotherapy. On the other hand there are figures suggesting that giving chemotherapy actually reduces the risk of cancers developing in the remaining testicle.

Compared to the benefits of treatment, which offers a high cure rate for a potentially lethal cancer, the risks of developing a second tumour are very small and certainly no one should have any doubts that treatment is worthwhile.