The Testicular Cancer Resource Center

The TCRC Experts List: True Experts in the Field of Testicular Cancer

In the world of cancer, Testicular Cancer is relatively rare. To give you some perspective, approximately 9,300 men in the US are going to be diagnosed with TC in 2018. That sounds like a lot, but there are 11,000 practicing urologists in the US, so there are more urologists in the country than testicular cancer patients. In other words, even the doctors who are supposed to know the most about TC may not see it very often. The same thing can be said for Oncologists, Pathologists, Radiologists, and especially General Practitioners. In fact, Urology News Online once estimated that a GP in the UK will only see one case of testicular cancer for every 21.4 years that they are in practice!

Why are we telling you this? We want you to realize that due to the relative rarity of this cancer, many doctors simply do not have the experience and expertise needed to deal with some of the complexities involved in its treatment. Only a small percentage of urologists perform a nerve sparing RPLND operation often enough to be considered experienced, let alone expert. Similarly, many oncologists are on uncertain ground administering the normal BEP protocol, let alone treating recurrences and advanced metastatic disease. The same can be said for the pathologists that look at the original slides after the orchiectomy. One study found that 32% of the pathology reports evaluated had errors, and 36% of those errors resulted in a change in the treatment or prognosis. In Scotland they "found that survival rates for testicular cancer at one unit were 10 per cent better than at four others". Even worse, an EORTC Study found that among poor prognosis patients, those treated at a center that rarely sees this type of cancer had a risk of death almost twice as high as those patient treated at a center that sees a lot of this cancer. Their treatments did not work as well and they suffered from more treatment related problems.

Because of these facts, we believe in getting the right diagnosis and treatment from the right source. This may involve getting a second opinion, and it may also mean consulting with an expert in another city (or country!) in order to verify the proper treatment. It may involve having your slides sent to an expert pathologist to verify the histology of the tumor, or it may mean traveling to have the surgery done by someone who does it frequently and expertly. There clearly is an advantage in making sure that your doctor knows how to treat this cancer! Just look at Norway to see an example of this. The incidence of testicular cancer is Norway is higher than anywhere else in the world. And yet, because they believe that you are better off being treated by an expert, only four centers in the entire country handle all the testicular cancer patients!

We have compiled the following list of experts in order to help you get the best treatment - you may already be asking "Are these doctors the ONLY ones who know how to treat testicular cancer?!" - certainly not, but most of these doctors have chosen testicular cancer as their specialty / area of research. They know what to do, particularly when it comes to complicated cases, and they are more than willing to help you or your doctor understand the correct treatment options. These experts are identified in the list with a star (★). Those doctors in the list without a star are still very capable of treating this disease, but testicular cancer is not (or is no longer) one of their main research interests.

If your cancer has recurred after initial treatment, or if the initial treatment did not work, then we strongly encourage you to call one of the doctors on this list!

We hope this list helps you in your TC experience. Please keep in mind that hospitals are constantly changing their websites, so these links frequently break. Moreover, doctors sometimes retire or change locations or positions. If that happens or if you have any other feedback, please contact us.

United States Rest of the World
Indiana New York Canada France
Washington Massachusetts United Kingdom Ireland
Illinois Ohio Norway The Netherlands
Pennsylvania Missouri Germany Austria
California South Carolina Denmark Italy
Colorado Oklahoma Israel Australia
Oregon Texas Sweden Switzerland
Utah New Jersey Russia Slovakia
Spain
United States:

And Around the World:

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This page was last updated on Feb 06, 2023
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