Men with a History of Testicular Cancer

Researchers from the University of Maryland in Baltimore conducted a case-control study to assess the association of a history of testicular cancer with later development of intermediate- to high-risk prostate cancer. Earlier studies suggested that the incidence of prostate cancer is higher among men with a history of testicular cancer (12.6%) than among men who did not have a history of testicular cancer (2.8%). Men who had testicular cancer also were more likely to develop intermediate- or high-risk prostate cancers.

The researchers analyzed Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) data on 32,435 men with a history of testicular cancer and 147,044 men with a history of melanoma. Melanoma was used as the control group because there is no known association between melanoma and prostate cancer; therefore, patients with melanoma would have a similar risk for developing prostate cancer as men in the general population.

The incidence of intermediate- or high-risk prostate cancer was 5.8% in the testicular cancer group and 1.1% in the control group. Testicular cancer was associated with a 4.7 times higher risk of developing all types of prostate cancer and a 5.2 times higher risk of developing intermediate- or high-risk disease. The findings suggest that surveillance for prostate cancer needs to be considered when creating survivorship care plans for testicular cancer survivors.

The study abstract can be found at http://meetinglibrary.asco.org/content/142017-159.