Category — teen cancer

There are a few different types of testicular cancer; the most common types are teratomas and seminomas.

Teenagers tend to suffer from a type of testicular cancer known as teratomas. A teratoma grows from a type of cell called a germ cell which are part of the reproductive system. Teratomas can form in the male teen’s testicles and, in rarer cases, the ova’s of female teens.

The other form of testicular cancer, Seminomas, tend to affect older men.

Symptoms of brain tumors are often triggered as the tumour grows in size, causing pressure on the brain.

Symptoms of brain tumours in teens frequently include headaches, muscle spasms and blurred vision.

Teenagers may also become irritable. Signs of irritability of frequent in teens which can make the diagnosis difficult.

Symptoms can also be related to the tumour’s position inside the brain. Areas of the brain that control stability, sensitivity and smell can also be affected by a brain tumour.

Smoking as a teenager has been shown to significantly increase a women’s risk of developing breast cancer later in life.

Research has found that teen girls who began smoking within five years of starting their periods were around 70% more likely to develop cancer later in life than non-smokers.

These observations reinforce the importance of smoking prevention, especially in early adolescence.

Approximately 10% of women will have a risk of developing breast cancer at some point in their life.

Thankfully cancer is rare in teens. Cancers which affect adults, such as breast cancer in women, are unlikely to affect teens. The cancers which do affect teens the most tend to be due to defects in the building blocks of like - defects with the white blood cells in leukemia for example.

One of the cancers that teenagers, specifically male teens, need to watch out for is testicular cancer. This cancer seems to attack younger men rather than older men. Lumps on the testicles may not always be testicular cancer but a doctor should always be consulted should any lumps be found.

Teens and adults usually get different types of cancer, although there is some overlap, most teens suffer from the cancers such as Leukemia whereas adults suffers from other forms of cancer such as skin cancer, lung cancer and colon cancer.

It is fair to say that teens with cancer are offered a more intensive chemotherapy than adults as their bodies are frequently in better condition and more able to accept the therapy. It is also fair to suggest that a teenager suffering from cancer has more to loose should the disease take hold, hence extra efforts are made to remove the cancer and improve the teenagers quality of life.

Teens being treated for cancer are often in an awkward position due to their ages. Some teens are sent for cancer treatment at children’s hospitals whereas other are sent to receive cancer treatment on adult wards. The level of care received on with cancer ward is still exceptional however some teenagers can feel that they do not fit into the social group on the ward as they are either too old or too young.

Many teen cancer programs focus on care as well as cancer treatment. Some hospitals, for example, preserve the sperm and eggs of teen cancer sufferers in case either are damaged during the treatment and the teen wants to start a family at a later date.