The UK Faculty of Public Health has recently taken ownership of the Health Knowledge resource. This new, advert-free website is still under development and there may be some issues accessing content. Additionally, the content has not been audited or verified by the Faculty of Public Health as part of an ongoing quality assurance process and as such certain material included maybe out of date. If you have any concerns regarding content you should seek to independently verify this.

Testicular Cancers

Epidemiology of Cancers: Testicular Cancers

Description

Testicular cancer occurs in two main histopathologic types, seminomas and nonseminomas - (predominantly teratomas). While these two types have different clinical characteristics, they are infrequently distinguished in epidemiological literature1.

Symptoms
A painless palpable mass usually perceived as an enlargement of the testicle is the cardinal symptom testicular cancer1.

Epidemiology

  • Worldwide the incidence of testicular cancer is relatively low. However, it is the most common cancer reported in men aged 15-44.
  • Significant geographic variation in incidence is observed worldwide, with the highest rates reported among white Caucasian populations, particularly in the United States and in Northern Europe where there is a clear north/south gradient with rates in Denmark being 5 times higher than in Spain. The lowest rates are observed in Eastern European and Asian populations1,2.
  • In the United States the risk of testicular cancer among Caucasian men is 5-10 times that of Afro-Caribbean men.
  • Worldwide the incidence of testicular cancer has been increasing since the 1920s. Annual increases of 2.3% and 6.5% haven been reported for a number of countries in Europe, the United State (among white males), Australia, Japan and New Zealand1.  The greatest increase has been observed in men aged 35-441.   whose rates more than doubled between the late 1970s and the early 2000s1,2.
  • In the UK age standardized (European) rates have more than double since 19792.
  • Approximately 50% of cases of testicular cancer occur in men < 35 years (92% in men < 55 years). The peak incidence rates of 15/100,000 males are found in the 30-39 age group2.
  • In the UK around 2000 newly diagnosed cases and 90 deaths from testicular cancer occur each year.
  • Testicular cancer is one of the most curable forms of cancer. The 5 year relative survival rate for cancer which has not spread is 99%. For cases were the cancer has spread beyond the lymph nodes the 5-year survival rate is around 72%. 

Risk Factors
Established risk factors include:

  • Age
  • Area of residence
  • Family history
  • Ethnic group
  • Cryptorchidism

Screening and Prevention

  • Education and self examination
  • Not a candidate for national screening programme (relatively rare and low mortality)

References

  1. Adami, H.O., D. Hunter, and D. Trichopoulos, eds. Textbook of Cancer Epidemiology. 2002, Oxford University Press: New York.
     
  2. Cancer Research UK
     
  3. Office for National Statistics. Cancer Statistics registrations: Registrations of cancer diagnosed in 2003, England. Series MB1 no.33. 2005. Available online http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/

© CM Kirwan 2006