Primary testicular tumors are the most common solid malignant tumor in men between the ages of 20 and 35 years in the United States. For unknown reasons, the incidence of this cancer—principally, testicular seminomas—increased during the last century. Over the past decade, the incidence of testicular cancer has risen approximately 1.2% per year, although the rate of increase has been slowing. However, the absolute mortality rate has been stable or decreasing; approximately 9,000 new cases have been diagnosed in United States every year, and only about 350 to 400 deaths have occurred annually.

The American Cancer Society (ACS) estimates that about 8720 new cases of testicular cancer will be diagnosed during 2016 in the United States. ^[1] The ACS estimates that 380 men will die of testicular cancer in 2016. The lifetime chance of developing testicular cancer is about one in 263 and the risk of dying is very low—about one in 5,000. 

In the past, metastatic testicular cancer was usually fatal, but advances in treatment, including high-dose chemotherapy and stem cell rescue, have considerably improved the prognosis. Indeed, testicular cancer is a bright spot in the oncological landscape and is now considered the model for the treatment of solid tumors.

Testicular cancers are very sensitive to chemotherapy and are curable even when metastatic. Cure rates for good-risk disease cure rates are 90-95%. However, patients cured of testicular cancer have approximately a 2% cumulative risk of developing a cancer in the opposite testicle during the 15 years after initial diagnosis. The risk of subsequent contralateral testis tumors appears to be higher in men whose primary tumor was a seminoma than in those with nonseminomatous primary tumors.