Almost 10,000 men a year in the U.S. are diagnosed with testicular cancer, according to the American Cancer Society. Yet a recent survey suggests that a majority of the men most at risk for it don't know it.

Testicular cancer is most often found in younger men between the ages of 20 and 40, but only 13 percent of the over 1000 respondents to the survey knew that fact. Most thought it was more common in older men, a serious misperception.

The Ohio State University researchers who commissioned the survey see this disconnect as significant. “A lot of men are surprised that testicular cancer is most common in younger men,” Shawn Dason, a coauthor of the survey and an associate clinical professor of urology at The Ohio State College of Medicine, told TheDoctor in an email. As a result, early signs of testicular cancer can be overlooked by younger men who think they are not at risk for cancer.

Monthly self-exams are not formally recommended for everyone, but men should know what to look for and when they should see their doctor.

“That level of misunderstanding could delay diagnosis and treatment,” Dason pointed out. Because testicular cancer is highly curable if caught early, any delay in diagnosis and treatment is a concern. Almost two-thirds of respondents, 63 percent, correctly recognized the value of early diagnosis.

In addition to feeling young and invulnerable, younger men also tend to have limited interactions with the healthcare system. This means they are less likely to be given the cautionary information they would get through regular doctor visits.

Fifty-four percent of respondents correctly said that men should do monthly self-exams. Dason, a urologic oncologist at The Ohio State Comprehensive Cancer Center - Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute, said although monthly self-exams are not formally recommended for everyone, men should know what to look for and when they should see their doctor.

Dason and his team are currently looking to publish their findings in a peer-reviewed journal, but in the meantime, this survey is a continuation of a smaller study they published in 2022 that also focused on public awareness and attitudes about testicular cancer. Only 24 percent of the 250 men surveyed in that study said they felt very or extremely knowledgeable about testicular cancer; 50 percent said they felt somewhat knowledgeable; and 26 percent said they felt not at all knowledgeable.

The good news is that once young men become aware of that testicular cancer is a possibility in their age group, they tend to embrace the idea of protective measures. More than 90 percent of the respondents said providers should discuss testicular cancer with their male patients, 81 percent were in favor of routine education about self-exams and 94 percent said they would see their doctor if they noticed something unusual, even though they knew it may be nothing.

As Dason put it, “…[A]lthough awareness is low, there is a willingness to act.”