Multivariate analysis of risk factors for testicular cancer: a hospital-based case-control study in the Czech Republic
Abstract:
Growing incidence of testicular cancer around the world stimulates research attempting to explain the trends. This study quantified the contribution of different types of potential risk factors for testicular germ-cell cancer (TGCC) with differentiation between seminoma and non-seminoma. A standardized questionnaire containing demographic data, pre- and perinatal factors, social, lifestyle and occupational parameters was prepared. The data file consists of n = 356 TGCCs (seminoma: n = 195; non-seminoma: n = 161) and n = 317 controls, frequency matched on age to cases. The following factors were significantly associated with the risk of TGCCs in univariate analyses (ORs): atrophic testis (5.3), smoking over 12 pack-yr (4.9), cryptorchidism (2.9), testicular trauma (2.0), birth weight under 3,000 g (1.6), low degree of education (3.0) in correlation with manual occupation (2.3) and finally, overall familial cancer history (1.5) and familial history of breast (1.8) and prostate cancer (3.9). On the other hand, maternal age over 20 yr (OR o be an influential risk factor, altogether with some lifestyle and occupational parameters. This suggests that both environmental exposures and genetic inheritance can play role in the moderation of the risk of TGCC.