Skip to main content
Log in

Doubling of testicular cancer incidence rate over the last 20 years in southern France

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Cancer Causes & Control Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In recent decades, testicular cancer incidence has considerably increased in a majority of industrialized countries. In France, short reports suggested that the testicular cancer incidence rate has also risen, especially in north-eastern regions. In Europe, geographical variation of incidence rates has been observed in Baltic countries and a clear birth cohort effect has been revealed. This study aimed to assess temporal trends in testicular cancer incidence in southern France. We examined incidence rates over a 20-year time period in a series of 506 consecutive cases of testicular cancer recorded from 1980 to 1999 in the Midi-Pyrenees region of France. Age, calendar period, and birth cohort effects were examined simultaneously using Poisson regression models. Our analysis found a significant rise in the overall incidence rate of testicular germ cell tumors from 1.27 to 3.04 per 100,000 between 1980–1984 and 1995–1999, an annual increase of 5.70%. These results, the first obtained in a large series in southern Europe, show a twofold increase in incidence rate of testicular cancer in the Midi-Pyrenees region, which is very similar to that observed in all European countries, more or less doubling in the last 20 years. Interestingly, this major jump and the apparent testicular cancer gradient between northern and southern Europe suggest considerable geographical heterogeneity in incidence, but low geographical variation in temporal trends.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

INSERM:

Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale

NSGCT:

Nonseminomatous germ cell tumor

SGCT:

Seminomatous germ cell tumor

TGCT:

Testicular germ cell tumor

TC:

Testicular cancer

References

  1. Bosl GJ, Motzer RJ (1997) Testicular germ-cell cancer. N Engl J Med 337:242–253

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Parkin D, Whelan S, Ferlay J, Raymond L, Young J (1997) Cancer incidence in five continents. IARC Scientific Publications, Lyon

    Google Scholar 

  3. Huyghe E, Matsuda T, Thonneau P (2003) Increasing incidence of testicular cancer worldwide: a review. J Urol 170:5–11

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Richiardi L, Bellocco R, Adami HO et al (2004) Testicular cancer incidence in eight northern European countries: secular and recent trends. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 13:2157–2166

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. McGlynn KA, Devesa SS, Sigurdson AJ et al (2003) Trends in the incidence of testicular germ cell tumors in the United States. Cancer 97:63–70

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. McGlynn KA, Devesa SS, Graubard BI, Castle PE (2005) Increasing incidence of testicular germ cell tumors among black men in the United States. J Clin Oncol 23:5757–5761

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Bray F, Richiardi L, Ekbom A et al (2006) Trends in testicular cancer incidence and mortality in 22 European countries: continuing increases in incidence and declines in mortality. Int J Cancer 118:3099–3111

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Toledano MB, Jarup L, Best N, Wakefield J, Elliott P (2001) Spatial variation and temporal trends of testicular cancer in Great Britain. Br J Cancer 84:1482–1487

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Hedelin G, Remontet L (2002) Evolution du cancer du testicule en France. Andrologie 12:269–273

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Remontet L, Esteve J, Bouvier AM et al (2003) Cancer incidence and mortality in France over the period 1978–2000. Rev Epidemiol Sante Publique 51:3–30

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Ekbom A, Richiardi L, Akre O, Montgomery SM, Sparen P (2003) Age at immigration and duration of stay in relation to risk for testicular cancer among Finnish immigrants in Sweden. J Natl Cancer Inst 95:1238–1240

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Bray F, Richiardi L, Ekbom A et al (2006) Do testicular seminoma and nonseminoma share the same etiology? Evidence from an age-period-cohort analysis of incidence trends in eight European countries. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 15:652–658

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Bergstrom R, Adami HO, Mohner M et al (1996) Increase in testicular cancer incidence in six European countries: a birth cohort phenomenon. J Natl Cancer Inst 88:727–733

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Huyghe E, Matsuda T, Daudin M et al (2004) Fertility after testicular cancer treatments: results of a large multicenter study. Cancer 100:732–737

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Viel JF (1994) [Poisson regression in epidemiology]. Rev Epidemiol Sante Publique 42:79–87

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Zheng T, Holford TR, Ma Z et al (1996) Continuing increase in incidence of germ-cell testis cancer in young adults: experience from Connecticut, USA, 1935–1992. Int J Cancer 65:723–729

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Clayton D, Schifflers E (1987) Models for temporal variation in cancer rates. I: Age-period and age-cohort models. Stat Med 6:449–467

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Clayton D, Schifflers E (1987) Models for temporal variation in cancer rates. II: Age-period-cohort models. Stat Med 6:469–481

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Bray F, Sankila R, Ferlay J, Parkin DM (2002) Estimates of cancer incidence and mortality in Europe in 1995. Eur J Cancer 38:99–166

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Jacobsen R, Moller H, Thoresen SO et al (2006) Trends in testicular cancer incidence in the Nordic countries, focusing on the recent decrease in Denmark. Int J Androl 29:199–204

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Levi F, La Vecchia C, Boyle P, Lucchini F, Negri E (2001) Western and eastern European trends in testicular cancer mortality. Lancet 357:1853–1854

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Purdue MP, Devesa SS, Sigurdson AJ, McGlynn KA (2005) International patterns and trends in testis cancer incidence. Int J Cancer 115:822–827

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Huyghe E, Plante P, Thonneau PF (2006) Testicular cancer variations in time and space in Europe. Eur Urol 51:621–8

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Shah MN, Devesa SS, Zhu K, McGlynn KA (2007) Trends in testicular germ cell tumours by ethnic group in the United States. Int J Androl 30:206–214

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Bray F, Richiardi L, Ekbom A et al (2006) Etiologic conclusions from similar birth cohort effects. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 15:1752

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Verhoeven R, Houterman S, Kiemeney B, Koldewijn E, Coebergh JW (2007) Testicular cancer: Marked birth cohort effects on incidence and a decline in mortality in southern Netherlands since 1970. Eur J Cancer. doi:10.1016/j.ejca.2007.08.022

  27. Bray F, Ferlay J, Devesa SS, McGlynn KA, Moller H (2006) Interpreting the international trends in testicular seminoma and nonseminoma incidence. Nat Clin Pract Urol 3:532–543

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. McKiernan JM, Goluboff ET, Liberson GL, Golden R, Fisch H (1999) Rising risk of testicular cancer by birth cohort in the United States from 1973 to 1995. J Urol 162:361–363

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Liu S, Wen SW, Mao Y, Mery L, Rouleau J (1999) Birth cohort effects underlying the increasing testicular cancer incidence in Canada. Can J Public Health 90:176–180

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Moller H (1989) Decreased testicular cancer risk in men born in wartime. J Natl Cancer Inst 81:1668–1669

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Wanderas EH, Tretli S, Fossa SD (1995) Trends in incidence of testicular cancer in Norway 1955–1992. Eur J Cancer 31A:2044–2048

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Patrick Thonneau.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Walschaerts, M., Huyghe, E., Muller, A. et al. Doubling of testicular cancer incidence rate over the last 20 years in southern France. Cancer Causes Control 19, 155–161 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-007-9081-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-007-9081-x

Keywords

Navigation