Risk Factors For Testicular Cancer

Risk factors for testicular cancer are those things that put a male at a higher than normal chance for getting testicular cancer than the average male would have. Having one or more risk factors for...

Risk factors for testicular cancer are those things that put a male at a higher than normal chance for getting testicular cancer than the average male would have. Having one or more risk factors for a disease, such as testicular cancer does not necessarily mean that you will actually get this cancer. Males who have developed testicular cancer have also been known not to have risk factors so risk factors do not necessarily guarantee the potential for the disease or that you will not get the disease. Risk factors only increase the chance for you to get the disease in the future.

Having had an undescended testicle is one such risk factor for testicular cancer with approximately 10% of testicular cancer cases involving men who have had an undescended testicle. Normally the testicles descend into the scrotum before the male baby is born. A testicle can remain in the abdomen or it can start to descend and then get stuck somewhere in the groin area.

Usually undescended testicles will continue to move down into the scrotum during the male baby’s first year of life. Doctors become concerned if the testicles do not descend completely by the end of the first year. They are concerned because it is usually felt that if the testicle is not descended completely by the end of the first year, that it will not likely do so on its own. A surgical procedure called an “orchiopexy” can bring down the testicle into the scrotum. Males who have undescended testicles that stay in the abdomen have a higher risk for testicular cancer. It is not certain as to what causes the testicular cancer or the undescended testicles but that there may be something that causes both of these to occur. Studies have shown that males who have had the orchiopexy surgery after the age of 12 were more likely to develop testicular cancer than those who had the corrective surgery at a younger age.

The risk that occurs due to family history increases the risk for brothers or sons of a male in the family with testicular cancer by about 3% of testicular cancers having a family connection. This means that most males with testicular cancer are unlikely to pass the disease onto their sons.

Evidence has been presented that suggest that males who have the HIV virus are at higher risk for testicular cancer.

A male who has had testicular cancer in one of his testicles has a 3% or 4% chance for developing it in the other testicle.

The majority of testicular cancer cases occur in males who are between 20 and 54 years of age. White males have 3 times higher risk for testicular cancer than black males. Males living in the U.S. and Europe are at a higher risk for testicular cancer. There are some studies that suggest that taller males have an increased risk for testicular cancer.

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