Follow-up after treatment for testicular cancer
Follow-up care lets your healthcare team keep track of your health for a period of time after treatment ends. This important part of cancer care is often shared among the cancer specialists and your family doctor. They will help you recover from treatment side effects and monitor you for any signs that the cancer has come back (recurred).
Follow-up care may not seem that important to you, especially if your treatment was long or very hard. You may find the idea of follow-up care stressful because it reminds you of your cancer experience or because you are worried about what a test might reveal. Talk to your healthcare team about how you feel and about why follow-up matters. Your healthcare team is there to help.
Schedule for follow-up visits
Donʼt wait until your next scheduled appointment to report any new symptoms or symptoms that don’t go away. Tell your healthcare team if you have:
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any new lump or swelling
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a cough or trouble breathing
The chance that testicular cancer will come back is greatest within the first 2 years, so you will need close follow-up during this time.
Follow-up visits for testicular cancer are usually scheduled for 5 to 10 years after the initial treatment:
- every 2 to 6 months for the first 3 years
- every 6 to 12 months after 3 years
During follow-up visits
During a follow-up visit, your healthcare team will usually ask questions about the side effects of treatment and how you’re coping.
Your doctor may do a physical exam, including:
- checking the remaining testicle (if only one testicle was removed)
- feeling the lymph nodes in your groin, abdomen and chest
- listening to your lungs
- checking your blood pressure and pulse
Tests are often part of follow-up care. You may have:
- blood tests to check tumour marker levels to see if they returned to normal after treatment
- chest x-rays to check if cancer has spread to the lungs
- CT scans of the abdomen and pelvis to look for cancer that may remain after treatment (called residual disease) or that has spread
If the cancer has come back, you and your healthcare team will discuss a plan for your treatment and care.
Find out more about follow-up
The following are questions that you can ask the healthcare team about follow-up after treatment for cancer. Choose the questions that fit your situation and add questions of your own. You may find it helpful to take the list to the next appointment and to write down the answers.
- What is the schedule for follow-up visits?
- How often is follow-up scheduled with the cancer specialist?
- Who is responsible for follow-up visits?
- What will happen at a follow-up visit?
- What tests are done on a regular basis? How often are they done?
- Are there any symptoms that should be reported right away? Who do I call?
- Who can help me cope with long-term side effects of treatment?
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