Life Insurance for People with Testicular Cancer

What is Testicular Cancer?

Testicular cancer develops when abnormal cells in the testes rapidly grow out of control. Fortunately though, this form of cancer is not very common and is highly curable when caught in its early stages. There are two types of testicular cancer that can affect mainly young  males between 15 and 35 and they are known as seminoma and nonseminoma cancer.

While it is not known exactly what causes testicular cancer, there are several factors that can increase your chances of developing it. Some of these factors include undescended testicles, Klinefelter syndrome, Down’s syndrome, mumps, infertility, testicular trauma, early puberty and heredity.

Other things that may lead to testicular cancer are pesticides, sedentary lifestyles, cutaneous ichthyosis, Mullerian syndrome, testicular feminization, hermaphroditism and radiation. Additionally, you may have an increased risk of testicular cancer if your mother took diethylstilbestrol, had estrogen therapy or experienced abnormal bleeding during pregnancy.

Common Treatments for Testicular Cancer

No matter what form of testicular cancer you have, treatment typically begins with what is known as a radical inguinal orchiectomy, or the removal of the affected testicle/s. Following surgery, treatment will highly depend on whether or not the cancer has spread. In many cases, all that is necessary is close monitoring.

However, if the cancer did spread, it can still be treated effectively by undergoing such procedures as surgery to remove lymph nodes, radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy. If these treatments are ineffective, your doctor may recommend high doses of chemo with an autologous stem cell transplant.

Underwriting this form of cancer is a bit more aggressive than a lot of the other types of cancer, and is largely dependent on the Staging of the cancer from the post-operative pathology report. Stage I, is typically when the cancer is confined to the testes; Stage II indicates metastasis to local lymph nodes; and Stage III occurs with metastasis to remote lymph nodes or other organs.

The primary questions to be asked of a proposed insured are:

• Age at diagnosis and date treatment ended?
• What was the specific type of Testicular Cancer?
• Stage of the Cancer and whether it was a seminoma or non-seminoma
• How was it treated?…(typically it’s with removal of the testes—an orchiectomy)
• Any metastisis or lymph node involvement?
• Frequency of follow up with Dr and any tumor marker testing results?

The good news is that typically, with an In-Situ or Stage I cancer, we can typically get an offer shortly after treatment is completed with a low Table rating and/or short term flat extra. Most often we’ll be looking at Standard rates, once they reach 5 to 7 years with no reoccurrence.

Contact me today for more information and a quote. My Toll Free number is 512-963-5000