Hilander, you are very misinformed. The certainly
Here are several more references to support my claim.
Here is a personal account of a prostate patient, follow the link for the "Flow Chart of Dates" and you will see that he had a bilateral orchiectomy in March of 1999, just two months after his first PSA test. Link is at
http://www.ricmasten.com/Prostate.Series.html
WebMD site lists bilateral orchiectomy first on the list of alternatives for men requiring hormone treatment for prostate cancer:
http://webmd.lycos.com/content/article/1680.50818
This web site also mentions bilateral orchiectomy first in the list of treatment options:
http://www.blackhealthnetwork.com/artic ... ticleid=31
This web site says "bilateral Orchiectomy remains the main method at Stage D". See
http://www.sfcs.org.sg/urology/ca-p.html
On this site, bilateral orchiectomy is listed as the first option for hormonal treatment.
http://www.prostatehealth.org/patient/fPAT07.html
This site says "bilateral orchiectomy is usually done when you have cancer in your prostate gland".
http://www.medformation.com/mf/crsaa.nsf/crs/biorch.htm
Here is a personal story of a guy receiving bilateral orchiectomy for prostate cancer in 1988.
http://www.cancerguide.org/jmartin_story.html
This site describes bilateral orchiectomy as a valid treatment option:
http://www.ecpcp.org/ecpcp_opt2.htm
Anyways, EVERY single site about prostate cancer mentions bilateral orchiectomy as a treatment option. In the last five years there have been alternatives, but there are still many bilateral orchiectomies performed and you can certainly get it if you request it.
Again, you are entirely wrong about the biopsies for testicular cancer. They DO remove the testicle if there is a lump. Just to do the biopsy, even before they are sure it is cancer. Here is another link to back me up -- it is not just theoretical!
http://cis.nci.nih.gov/fact/6_34.htm says "In nearly all cases of suspected cancer, the entire affected testicle is removed "
This one says "A radical orchiectomy is indicated in the management of a suspected testicular tumor. Suspect a testicular tumor in a patient with the physical findings of a painless, firm, and irregular mass arising from the testicle."
http://www.emedicine.com/med/topic3063.htm
So where do you get your facts from hilander? I would like to agree with you because I think it is stupid that doctors remove so many testicles -- with a bit of care I am sure they could remove lumps without the whole thing. But they don't. They believe testicles are expendible and there are many quotes that having just one won't affect you at all (unless you find out later that that remaining testicle has fertility problem, etc.)