Pregnancy test may have saved man's life

A man recently found one of his ex-girlfriend's unused pregnancy tests in his apartment. As a joke, he took the test. Much to his surprise, it turned out positive. Little did he know at the time, but this test may have saved his life.

As reported by The Huffington Post, when the man told friends about his positive pregnancy test, they laughed and decided to post a cartoon about it on Reddit. Some who commented on the post had a good laugh too. But others raised concern about the positive test, telling the man to get tested for testicular cancer. It turns out that the pregnancy test screens for elevated levels of a hormone called HCG (human chorionic gonadotropin), and men with testicular cancer also have increased levels of this hormone. The man took his test result to a doctor, who confirmed that he did indeed have a small testicular tumour. Luckily, it was caught at an early enough stage that it could be treated. Before all men start running out and getting pregnancy tests though, The American Cancer Society has informed CNN that most men with testicular cancer do not have high enough levels of the HCG hormone to be caught by a pregnancy test. The best way to screen for testicular cancer is to do a self examination for lumps on the testicles. The American Cancer Society representative, Dr. Ted Gansler, went on to say that other types of cancer, such as pancreas, lung, stomach or other cancers, may sometimes have HCG levels high enough to cause a positive pregnancy test result.