Testicular Cancer and Hormonally Active Agents∗

Abstract

Testicular cancer (TC) is a rare form of cancer, accounting for 1% of all new cancer cases in Canadian males. TC is the most common malignancy among young men, aged 25-34 yr old. Over previous decades, the incidence of TC has increased in many Western countries. Countries with a sufficiently long period of cancer registration, such as Denmark, document this trend back to the first half of the 20th century. The etiology of TC remains poorly understood. Most of the established risk factors are likely related to in utero events, including some factors that are purported to be surrogate measures for exposure to endogenous estrogens. The correlation of TC with other testicular abnormalities and with pregnancy factors led to the proposal that these conditions are a constellation of sequelae of impairment of testicular development called testis dysgenesis syndrome. There is some limited evidence suggesting that exposure to pharmacological estrogens may contribute to some cases of TC. There is currently no compelling evidence that exposure to environmental estrogenic or other hormonally active substances is contributing to the rise in TC incidence observed in Western nations over the last several decades; however, this question has not been extensively studied. The (1) rarity of this condition in the population, (2) long lag time between the presumed sensitive period during fetal development and clinical appearance of the condition, and (3) lack of a good animal model to study the progression of the disease have greatly hindered the understanding of environmental influences on TC risk.

Occupational and Environmental Exposures Associated with Testicular Germ Cell Tumours: Systematic Review of Prenatal and Life-Long Exposures

“…Among the potential environmental factors, pesticides, which were first suggested to be a possible risk factor for TGCT in 1984 [13], appear to be one of the most studied. Available literature reviews [3,14–16] focused mainly on adulthood exposures and missed several articles. These generally provided few details on study methodologies and limits.…”

Developmental programming: Impact of prenatal exposure to bisphenol-A and methoxychlor on steroid feedbacks in sheep

“…There is growing interest in EDCs with steroidogenic potential due to their ability to induce cancers (breast [Fenton, 2006], prostate [Muir, 2005], testicular [Garner et al, 2008]), endometriosis (Missmer et al, 2004), and genital abnormalities in boys (Paulozzi et al, 1997). They have been implicated in lower sperm quality in human (Dallinga et al, 2002) as well as pubertal advancement in girls (Roy et al, 2009).…”

Maternal hormones during early pregnancy: a cross-sectional study

“…In the fetus, this is the time when organogenesis takes place and tissue patterns and organ systems are established [11]. It has been proposed that hormonal alterations during pregnancy, specifically early in the pregnancy, may be of particular etiological importance for the development of testicular cancer in male offsprings [12]. …”