EST Ottawa comedian Tom Green is in the news today, but this time, it's no laughing matter. Green was diagnosed with testicular cancer last week. He underwent surgery soon after, and had another operation Tuesday to ensure complete removal of the cancer. The host of MTV's The Tom Green Show is reportedly in good spirits. Green is the latest high-profile personality to be diagnosed with the disease.
Testicular cancer is one of the more rare forms of the disease.
It makes up one per cent of all cancer cases in Canadian men, according to the Canadian Cancer Society , but it is the most common type of cancer found in young men, between the ages of 20 and 45, accounting for more than 25 per cent of cancers in this group. The numbers have been increasing, and in 1999, the National Cancer Institute of Canada estimated that 800 new cases would be detected, resulting in 40 deaths. The fatalities are actually quite low, and have declined considerably in the last 16 years. A key reason is that testis tumours are quite sensitive to radiation and chemotherapy, and therefore lead to a successful treatment and possible cure. Dr. Martin Buckspan, head of urology at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, says that there is generally very little public awareness about the disease, and that men just don't know that they should be doing self-examinations.