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CC BY 4.0 · Indian J Med Paediatr Oncol
DOI: 10.1055/s-0044-1796675
Review Article

Global Burden of Testicular Cancer and Its Risk Factors

Sharyu Mhamane 
1   Centre for Cancer Epidemiology (CCE), Tata Memorial Centre (TMC), Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
,
Sonali Bagal 
1   Centre for Cancer Epidemiology (CCE), Tata Memorial Centre (TMC), Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
,
Samyukta Shivshankar 
1   Centre for Cancer Epidemiology (CCE), Tata Memorial Centre (TMC), Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
2   Homi Bhabha National Institute (HBNI), Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
,
Prithviraj Kadam 
1   Centre for Cancer Epidemiology (CCE), Tata Memorial Centre (TMC), Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
,
Gagan Prakash 
3   Division of Urologic Oncology, Department of Surgical Oncology, Tata Memorial Centre, Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
,
Atul Budukh 
1   Centre for Cancer Epidemiology (CCE), Tata Memorial Centre (TMC), Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
2   Homi Bhabha National Institute (HBNI), Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
› Author Affiliations Funding None.
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Abstract

Testicular cancer (TC) is a rare cancer accounting for 5% of total urologic tumors. It occurs in distinct age groups of adolescents and young adults unlike other cancers peaking in the older age groups. About 95% of TC arises from germ cells. The histological classification of TC consists mainly of seminomas and nonseminomas. Based on GLOBOCAN 2022, the continent with the highest incidence rate was Europe (Age-adjusted rate-6.4), while Africa (0.59) had the lowest incidence. The highest mortality rates were estimated for Latin America and the Caribbean (0.58) followed by Europe (0.35) while the lowest was for the Asian continent (0.14). The highest prevalence of TC was in Europe followed by Oceania and Northern America, while Africa had the least prevalence of TC cases among all. A myriad of risk factors is associated with TC; Cryptorchidism is the strongest associated risk factor of TC increasing the risk by fivefold. Other risk factors identified include family history increasing the risk by four- to eightfold, increased adult height, infertility (1.6- to 2.8-fold), pesticide exposure (threefold), and gr/gr deletion (threefold). Clinically, TC generally presents as a painless scrotal swelling often mistaken as a hydrocele and the bulk of disease growing in the retroperitoneum can be asymptomatic even after growing to a huge size. This article aims to present the global burden of TC and also discusses its etiological risk factors.

Keywords

testicular cancer - epidemiology - GLOBOCAN - etiology - cryptorchidism

Patient Consent

This a review article based on published literature, therefore patient consent was not required.


Authors' Contributions

S.M.: Writing original draft, data curation, and visualization.


S.B.: Writing - review and editing, data curation, and visualization.


S.S.: Writing - review and editing, data curation, and visualization.


P.K.: Writing - review and editing.


G.P.: Writing - review and editing.


A.B.: Conceptualization, writing - review and editing, and supervision.




Publication History

Article published online:
29 November 2024

© 2024. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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