Why it’s important for AFL players to speak up about testicular cancer
AFL players are no more likely than other young men to develop testicular cancer, according to a professor in the field, but he believes the number of footballers who have made their diagnoses public in recent years will encourage men to get checked if they feel “a funny lump”.
GWS player Bobby Hill is the latest AFL player to reveal his diagnosis. Other current players to have been treated for testicular cancer include Hill’s Giants teammate Jesse Hogan, former Carlton captain Sam Docherty, Port Adelaide star Robbie Gray and North Melbourne onballer Ben Cunnington, while Docherty’s ex-teammate Sam Rowe also battled the disease during his career at Carlton.
GWS player Bobby Hill had a lump removed earlier this week.Credit:Getty Images
Testicular cancer is the second most common cancer in men aged 20 to 39, after non-melanoma skin cancer.
Professor Declan Murphy, the director of genitourinary oncology at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, said the coverage generated by high-profile athletes affected by the disease could encourage young men to seek medical attention when they otherwise might not, due to the personal nature of testicular cancer.
“It’s really welcome for these brave young guys to actually take a decision to reveal their diagnosis because it does help younger fellas who might see a funny lump to feel more confident or less self-conscious about going to have a chat with their doctor about that thing,” Murphy said.
“It does impact young men being [made] aware that this is a condition that can afflict young men and therefore feel those testicles, and if something feels funny, go and get it checked out if [their] favourite footy player recently did.”
The importance of young men being aware of the condition, Murphy said, is due in large part to the way in which testicular cancer is identified.
“The way we diagnose these cancers is almost entirely due to young men just noticing on self-examination that one testicle feels a bit different to how it used to feel, or a small lump is now developing in the testicle, and usually with no pain.”
Hill, 22, revealed his diagnosis after playing against the Brisbane Lions on Saturday, and successfully underwent surgery on Tuesday to remove the tumour.
According to the Cancer Council, Australian men have a one in 202 risk of being diagnosed with testicular cancer by the age of 85. The rate of men diagnosed with testicular cancer has grown by more than 50 per cent over the past 30 years, and the survival rate five years after diagnosis is 97 per cent.
Sam Docherty has made a successful comeback to AFL after treatment for testicular cancer.Credit:Getty Images
A high-profile case of testicular cancer in the VFL was Peter Crimmins, the brilliant Hawthorn player who died at the age of 28 just a few days after the Hawks won the 1976 premiership.
Murphy said AFL players are perfectly situated within the demographic that testicular cancer most affects.
“I don’t think there’s any particularly higher incidence in AFL players,” he said.
“There’s no sort of cluster, no sort of increase, it’s just that this is a cancer that happens in younger men; four or five of them are diagnosed every week in Melbourne by people like me, and what we just see is the visibility that these guys are being generous enough to tell their story and go public on it.
“And for every one of them there’s actually other AFL players that we diagnose that don’t go public on it of course as well, it’s a personal cancer.”
Murphy also stressed that playing AFL, or any other sport where trauma to the testicles may occur, does not increase the chance of developing testicular cancer.
“It’s a question that gets asked, you know ‘I had a cricket ball hit there’ or you know ‘I’ve had a kick in the groin, is that it?’ and we will say no.
“It’s not that the trauma caused it, it’s that it was there all the way along. The sport itself, unlike concussion maybe, the sport itself doesn’t put young men at higher risk of developing testicular cancer.”
Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter.
Most Viewed in Sport
From our partners
Source: Read Full Article