Dutee Chand was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2021; know the disease and its signs

Athlete Dutee Chand was diagnosed with stage 1 testicular cancer in 2021. Her cancer diagnosis came when she was asked to quit sports after she failed to qualify the preliminary round in the Tokyo Olympics Women's, news agency PTI reported. She was banned for four years for doping.

Dutee told PTI that it began with a groin injury in 2021. She told the news agency that before the Tokyo Olympics she played in the National Inter-State Championships where she had immense pain in the groin region. "I consulted some doctors but the pain did not go. I went to the Olympics (July-August, 2021) and could not do well there," she told the media.

Harvard study reveals following this lifestyle decreases death risk by 29%

In November 2021, Dutee had an MRI scan which detected that she had stage 1 testicular cancer. She was suggested by her doctor to quit sports. "I felt very scary, nervous, thinking what has happened to my life," Chand told PTI. The cancerous growth was diagnosed by Dr Sudeep Satpathy, a professor at the Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) in Bhubaneswar.

Testicular cancer is the abnormal growth of cells in the testicles. Though not a common type of cancer, testicular cancer happens mostly between 15 and 45 years. "Testicular cancer is highly treatable, even when it spreads to other parts of the body. Treatments depend on the type of testicular cancer that you have and how far it has spread. Common treatments include surgery and chemotherapy," MayoClinic says.

As per reports, Dutee Chand went for a medical checkup after experiencing persistent pain in the groin region. "I am having testosterone hormone imbalance, so it could be from there. The groin pain was increasing slowly. Everybody was saying it's groin pain but the doctor said cancer attack can happen if it (the pain) continues," she told the media. The early symptoms of testicular cancer are a bump or lump in the testicle.

​​Diabetes: Why does blood sugar level fluctuate in the morning?​​

The 27-year-old athlete has not been tested for cancer since 2021. She has revealed that her pain had subsided 15-20 days after she started taking medicine. "At that time, the doctor (Satpathy) said its level 1 cancer attack. There was a lot of pain at that time. But after taking medicine for 15-20 days, the pain subsided, there was recovery. I did not do any other medical test because I was feeling all right, not much of pain. Then, I gave this sample to NADA (National Anti-Doping Agency) and then came the dope positive result,” she told the media.