Normal results depend on the location and stage of the patient's cancer at the time of surgery.
Most prostate cancer patients, however, report rapid relief from cancer symptoms after an orchiectomy.
Patients who are having an orchiectomy as treatment for testicular cancer should consider banking sperm if they plan to have children following surgery.
Orchiectomy by itself has a very low rate of morbidity and mortality. Patients who are having an orchiectomy as part of cancer therapy have a higher risk of dying from the cancer than from testicular surgery.
An additional risk specific to cancer patients is recurrence of the cancer.
There is no effective alternative to radical orchiectomy in the treatment of testicular cancer; radiation and chemotherapy are considered follow-up treatments rather than alternatives.
A subcapsular orchiectomy is also performed for treatment of prostate cancer.
Long-term aftercare for patients with testicular cancer includes frequent checkups in addition to radiation treatment or chemotherapy. Patients with prostate cancer may be given various hormonal therapies or radiation treatment.
An orchiectomy is sometimes done to prevent cancer when an undescended testicle is found in a patient who is beyond the age of puberty.
A simple orchiectomy is performed as part of gender reassignment surgery or as palliative treatment for advanced cancer of the prostate.
An orchiectomy is done to treat cancer or, for other reasons, to lower the level of testosterone, the primary male sex hormone, in the body.
It is a medical procedure to remove testicles, commonly done to treat cancer or lower testosterone levels.
Orchiectomy performed as part of cancer therapy may be done in a hospital under general anesthesia, but is most often done as an outpatient procedure in a urology clinic or similar facility.