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The epidemiology of testicular cancer in young adults

American journal of epidemiology, 1980

Abstracts

… “An important risk factor is cryptorchidism which occurs in greater frequency in white men and has been produced experimentally in rodents by the in utero exposure to estradiol and diethylstilbestrol (DES).” …

… “The present study was stimulated particularly by a history of prenatal DES exposure in several young patients admitted to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center with a diagnosis of testicular cancer. The increasing incidence in young white men of upper social class suggested that prenatal environmental factors such as the administration of estrogens should be studied.” …

… “Furthermore, since seminomas are most common among men in their 30s and DES usage was most common in the early 1950s, the group at greatest risk may be first reaching the age range for manifesting this type of tumor. This may explain the failure of studies up until now to discern any relationship between DES and testicular cancer.” …

… “This study (detected small differences but) has failed to show that prenatal hormone use increases the risk of testicular cancer to a moderate or marked degree.” …

References

  • The epidemiology of testicular cancer in young adults, American journal of epidemiology, NCBI PubMed, PMID: 6106385, 1980 Aug.
  • Featured image credit Karl Fredrickson.
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