Love Island's Chris Hughes says brother has testicular cancer

A Love Island contestant who had a check for testicular cancer on live TV says his brother has been diagnosed with the disease.

Chris Hughes was praised for raising awareness with his appearance on ITV's This Morning two months ago.

The reality star says his brother Ben checked for lumps the day after Chris was on the show.

Chris revealed the news on Instagram, alongside two pictures of the pair as children, urging others to get checked.

Chris, who's 26, was flooded with messages of support from his 1.9 million followers, who thanked him for raising awareness of the disease.

In November he was also praised for stripping off and showing men that there is nothing to be embarrassed about by getting their testicles examined.

The reality star, who was on the 2017 series of Love Island, decided to go public to encourage other men to get checked, after having his own health scare when he was a teenager and three operations on his left testicle.

He revealed on This Morning that his cousin had testicular cancer and that both of his brothers were infertile.

He also admitted that he didn't get examined until he was 20 years old, saying: "Because it doesn't come with a lot of pain it's easy to neglect.

"Everyone thinks they know their body. There's a right way to check them. I'll be honest with you it's not something you grab hold of in everyday life. You wash yourself but don't necessarily use your fingers to identify."

Testicular cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in young men, and Cancer Research UK says around 2,200 men in the UK are diagnosed each year. It is more likely if you have a family history of the disease.

But research from male cancer charity Orchid shows that 68% of men don't know how to check their testicles properly.

The Movember Foundation's advice is: "If you notice a change in size or shape, a lump that wasn't there before, or if they become painful to touch, see a doctor."

Chris echoes their message: "Testicular cancer is a silent killer, men need to realise this and check themselves regularly. It takes 10 seconds. Please do it."

How to check your testicles

A good time to check your testicles is after a warm bath or shower, when the skin is relaxed.

Cup your hand under them and check for swelling and lumps.

Roll each testicle between your finger and thumb and feel the weight.

The NHS says most men's testicles are around the same size, although it's common for one to be slightly bigger than the other or hang lower.

There might be something wrong if you find a hard lump on the front or side of a testicle, a testicle is swollen, or if there's pain or discomfort in a testicle or in the scrotum (the sack that holds the testicles).

There's more advice from the NHS here.

Jack Broadley, 26, discovered a lump on his testicle when he was 20.

He tells Newsbeat that despite his dad having testicular cancer when he was 24, he still didn't have the confidence to get checked straight away.

"You'd have thought it would have made me go to the GP sooner, but it didn't because I was so worried about it being cancer."

It turned out that Jack had an aggressive form of the disease that had spread to his abdomen. As a result he needed three months of chemotherapy.

"I was scared going through it all, I felt very alone," he says.

"If you do find a lump, don't be afraid to go to the doctors and get yourself checked out. I was 21 when I was diagnosed and I know of a lot of other young guys who've been diagnosed. It is a young man's disease."

As a result of his experience Jack decided to set up a charity to raise awareness about testicular cancer.

Baggy Trousers aims to educate and reduce the embarrassment that surrounds getting tested.

If you've been affected by any of the issues in this article you can check out the BBC Advice pages for help.

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