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Physical activity, medical history, and risk of testicular cancer (Alberta and British Columbia, Canada)

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In order to evaluate risk factors for germ cell cancers, we conducted a case-control study of 510 men with testicular cancer aged 15 to 79 years and 996 randomly selected age-matched controls in the provinces of British Columbia and Alberta, Canada. Subjects completed a mailed questionnaire providing data on education level, ethnic origin, medical history, smoking, occupation, and recreational and sports activity. The response rate among cases was 80.3 percent and among controls was 68.1 percent. After controlling for age and ethnic origin, undescended testis was associated positively with risk of testicular cancer (odds ratio [OR]=3.5; 95 percent confidence interval [CI]=2.2–5.7) as was inguinal hernia requiring surgery (OR=2.0, CI=1.3–2.9), and hydrocoele (OR=2.6, CI=1.4–5.1). Risk of testicular cancer increased with height, with subjects taller than 180 cm having a significantly increased risk compared with those 174 cm or less (OR=1.5, CI=1.1–2.1). A moderate to high level of recreational activity level was associated inversely with testicular cancer risk (OR=0.6, CI=0.5–0.8).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. British Columbia Cancer Agency, Vancouver, Canada

    Richard P. Gallagher, Norman Phillips, Andrew J. Coldman, Chris Coppin & Tim Lee

  2. Alberta Cancer Board, Health Canada, Ottawa, Canada

    Shirley Huchcroft

  3. Laboratory Centre for Disease Control, Health Canada, Ottawa, Canada

    Gerry B. Hill

Authors
  1. Richard P. Gallagher
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  2. Shirley Huchcroft
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  3. Norman Phillips
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  4. Gerry B. Hill
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  5. Andrew J. Coldman
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  6. Chris Coppin
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  7. Tim Lee
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Additional information

This project was supported by the National Health Research and Development Program (6610-1340-53) and by Health Canada through a contract from the Action Plan on Health and the Environment.

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Gallagher, R.P., Huchcroft, S., Phillips, N. et al. Physical activity, medical history, and risk of testicular cancer (Alberta and British Columbia, Canada). Cancer Causes Control 6, 398–406 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00052179

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00052179

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