A cancer consultant is urging football fans to raise money for research while watching England's World Cup game against Argentina.

Dr Trivadi Ganesan, a medical oncologist at the Churchill Hospital, Headington, Oxford, is hoping Cancer Research UK's World Cup Party will also raise awareness about testicular cancer.

He said: "Raising awareness is a good thing. Men are much worse at looking after themselves than women. They need to be more aware.

"Men should also help to raise money for research and the World Cup Party seems a good way to do it." Unlike breast cancer, which affects 25,000 women in the UK every year, testicular cancer is diagnosed in only 1,500 men annually, although it is becoming more common.

In Oxford, 23 men were diagnosed in 1999, while 28 were diagnosed in 2000.

It usually strikes when men are aged between 18 and 50.

Dr Trivadi, a member of the National Cancer Research Institute's testicular cancer group, said men were often too embarrassed to talk to their GP when they found a lump in their testicle.

He said: "If the cancer is found early, it can be treated successfully. We need to encourage men to actively examine themselves and the key thing is to get problems checked out by a doctor.

"The good thing is that more than 90 per cent of testicular cancer is curable, even when it has spread outside the testicle area. It's only when it's very extensive that survival rates go down."

The World Cup Party is using the England versus Argentina game, on Friday, June 7, to raise money for research.

Businesses are being invited to give their employees an extra hour off at lunchtime to watch the game, which starts at 12.30pm, in return for a donation to Cancer Research UK.

Anyone who wants to take part can call the national hotline on 0870 160 2040 or log on to www.cancerresearchuk.org for more details.