Scientists Find Marker For Early Testicular Cancer

Danish scientists said on Thursday they had discovered a new method that could help to detect very early signs of testicular cancer. They diagnosed the disease in a 23-year-old man who had fertility problems but showed no signs of the illness by looking for a specific protein in semen. "This is the first time there may be a potential method of detecting testicular cancer in a semen sample," Dr. Christina Hoei-Hansen, of Rigshospitalet-Copenhagen University Hospital, told Reuters. She believes the findings could lead to the development of a cheap, non-invasive diagnostic test and perhaps a screening program for testicular cancer. The researchers had earlier discovered that a protein called AP-2gamma was found in testicular carcinoma in situ (CIS), a very early stage of the disease before it has started to spread. They were doing a study comparing levels of the protein in semen samples from testicular cancer patients and healthy men who acted as a control group. "When we were evaluating the first series of semen samples we detected AP-2gamma positive cells in a sample from one of the healthy controls," Hoei-Hansen said. The man was having a routine semen analysis because he and his partner had been trying for 18 months to have a baby. Further tests confirmed he had CIS, according to the research reported in the journal Human Reproduction.