Seminomas make up about 40 percent of all cases. Nonseminomas are actually a group of cancers. They include choriocarcinoma, embryonal carcinoma, teratoma, and yolk sac tumors. Additional surgery to remove the lymph nodes deep in the abdomen may be recommended. In the past, this surgery removed the nerves that control the ability to ejaculate during sexual intercourse.
Patients are able to ejaculate and in many cases father children.
A pathologist then examines the nodes to see whether they contain cancer cells. For patients with nonseminoma, removing the nodes can cure many patients and help stop the spread of their disease in others. Seminoma patients do not need this surgery, if the disease is limited, because cancer cells in their lymph nodes can be destroyed with radiation therapy. If the patient has a lot of cancer in the abdomen, chest, or brain, then chemotherapy is given first. The patients usually receives radiation therapy as an outpatient.