Pregnancy Test Kit Helps Man Get His Testicular Cancer Diagnosed

Social news site Reddit and a pregnancy test kit helped a man make an appointment with his doctor who then diagnosed that he was suffering from testicular cancer. The unidentified man found an unused pregnancy test kit left by his ex-girlfriend and decided to take it as a joke. However he was horrified to find the test returned positive. His friend drew up a crude cartoon and posted it on Reddit.

However a number of concerned people commented on the cartoon, suggesting that his friend should get himself tested as it could be a sign of testicular cancer, he passed on the warnings to his friend who then took an appointment with a doctor where he was diagnosed with testicular cancer.

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s Dr Mark Pomerantz said that testicular cancer leads to the production of a hormone, known as beta human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), which is also produced by a developing placenta and found in the blood and urine samples of pregnant women.

The pregnancy testing kit identifies this hormone and that was the reason why it came back as positive. “It turns out a fair number of testicular cancers make the same exact hormone. There are very few things in the body that produce beta hCG, and testicular cancer is one of them”, he said.

Source-Medindia