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To help find the cause of symptoms, the doctor evaluates human health in general. The doctor also performs a physical exam and may order lab tests and diagnostics. If a tumor is suspected, your doctor will probably suggest a biopsy, which involves surgery to remove the testicle.

• Blood tests measure the levels of tumor markers. Tumor markers are substances found in higher than normal amounts when cancer is present. Tumor markers such as alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) , human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) can detect a tumor that is too small to be detected during a physical examination or imaging tests.
  
• Ultrasound is a diagnostic test in which sound waves of high frequency are bounced off tissues and internal organs. Their echoes produce a picture called a sonogram. Ultrasonography of the scrotum can show the presence and size of a testicular mass. It is also useful to rule out other conditions such as inflammation due to infection.




• Biopsy is the microscopic examination of testicular tissue by a pathologist and is the only sure way to know whether cancer is present. In almost all cases in which cancer is suspected, it removes the entire affected testicle through an incision in the groin. This procedure is called inguinal orchiectomy. In rare cases (for example, when a man has only one testicle), the surgeon performs an inguinal biopsy, removing a tissue sample from the testicle through an incision in the groin and proceeding with orchiectomy only if the pathologist finds cancer cells . (The surgeon does not cut through the scrotum to remove tissue, because if the problem is the presence of cancer, this procedure could cause the disease to spread).