Incidence and descriptive features of testicular cancer among United States whites, blacks, and hispanics, 1973–1982

Abstract

This is a descriptive epidemiologic report based on over 3000 incident testicular cancer cases occurring among residents of the US and h e r t o Rico, as reported to the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) program of the National Cancer Institute for the years 1973 through 1982. White men had significantly higher incidence rates than their New Mexico Hispanic, black, and Puerto %can Hispanic counterparts with weighted risk ratios of 1.36,4.62, and 4.80, respectively. Ethnic differences in incidence were least evident at the extremes of age. Although the distribution of histologic subtypes did not differ across ethnic strata, morphologic expression was related to age at diagnosis. There was a predominance of right-sided tumor involvement in each ethnic group in childhood (<15 years of age), but not in the oldest age categories or among tumors presenting in cryptorchid testes. Never married men appeared to be at greater risk of developing nonseminoma testicular cancer than their married counterparts. Analysis of ethnic secular trends, using data from comparable geographic areas, showed a consistent increase in incidence among young men for all three ethnic groups. The contrast between the rate differences and the homogeneity of descriptive parameters across ethnic strata suggest the impact of quantitative rather than qualitative differences in environmental etiology.

Risk of testicular cancer in cohort of boys with cryptorchidism

“…We stratified these analyses by side of the testis (that is, we calculated observed and expected numbers separately for left and right testes) to prevent negative confounding by side: there is a tendency for testicular cancer at the study ages to be right sided13 14 and probably for cryptorchidism to be left sided,10 15 which would reduce the apparent risk of ipsilateral malignancy. Since national data on testicular cancer have not been collected by side we estimated the expected incidence rates for each side by multiplying the age specific incidence rates of testicular cancer in England and Wales by the age specific proportions of tumours that were left and right sided in data from the South Thames region, 1958-77 14…”

Cancer incidence patterns among adolescents and young adults in the United States

“…Family history, prior testicular tumor, immunosuppression, and pesticide exposure are also associated with increased risk of testicular cancer [35][36][37][38][39]. The rarity of testicular cancer among black males has been well documented [2,40], However, the underlying reason why black males have a much lower testicular cancer incidence rate than white males is not well known. Henderson et al postulated that increased testosterone levels among black women during early pregnancy compared with white women may protect against testicular cancer among black male offspring [41].…”

“…From the early 20s (ages 20-24) through the early 30s (ages 30-34), the five most common cancers among white males remained the same although the relative frequency of each cancer varied with age. Colorectal cancer replaced HL among the top five cancers in the late 30s (ages 35-39); lung cancer supplanted brain & CNS tumors in the early forties (ages [40][41][42][43][44]; and prostate cancer edged out testicular cancer in the late forties (ages 45-49), by which time the five most common sites were cancers of the lung, colon & rectum, and prostate, followed by melanoma of the skin and NHL.…”

Identification and assessment of endocrine disruptors: limitations of in vivo and in vitro assays.

“…Epidemiologic studies have found significant increases in the incidence of hormonedependent diseases including cancers of the breast, prostate, and testis (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8). For (9).…”