'Check your testicles' - World Cancer Day

Men across the UK are being urged to do regular checks for testicular cancer ahead of World Cancer Day on Thursday.

Men between 15 and 49 years of age are the most affected and is one of the less common cancers

Numbers show that around 2,300 men in the UK each year are diagnosed.

Milton Keynes Olympic champion Greg Rutherford found a lump in the first lockdown. He was quite shaken and unsure, and at first, did not tell his wife. After getting checked, Greg was told he has cysts - a fluid build-up - and now wants other men to "take it seriously".

Greg said: "I’m just here asking everyone to check. Even now, during a pandemic, when I think it's safe to say we're fearful of wasting doctors' and nurses' time. If you're a bloke, grab them and make sure nothing's wrong, and if your partner won’t check their own balls, maybe offer to do it for them.”

Luckily, the cysts discovered were not serious, but Greg’s experience has helped to raise an important discussion of what to do if any abnormalities are found in a testicle.

According to figures from the NHS, testicular cancer is one of the most treatable types of cancer, and the outlook is one of the best for cancers.

In England and Wales, almost all men (99%) survive for a year or more after being diagnosed with testicular cancer, and 98% survive for 5 years or more after diagnosis.