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Familial testicular cancer in Norway and southern Sweden

Heimdal, K ; Olsson, Håkan LU orcid ; Tretli, S ; Flodgren, P LU ; Børresen, A L and Fossa, S D (1996) In British Journal of Cancer 73(7). p.9-964
Abstract

Information about occurrence of testicular cancer (TC) in relatives of TC patients has been collected using questionnaires from 797 out of 922 consecutive Norwegian and 178 out of 237 Swedish patients with TC seen at the Norwegian Radium Hospital and the University Hospital Lund in Sweden during 1981-91. Fifty-one Norwegian and five Swedish patients had a relative with confirmed TC. Thus, 51/922 (5.5%) of the Norwegian and 5/237 (2.1%) of the Swedish patients treated during the time interval investigated were considered to have familial TC. Thirty-two of the patients had an affected first-degree relative. Expected numbers of cancers in the relatives were computed from data in the Norwegian and Swedish Cancer Registries. Standardised... (More)

Information about occurrence of testicular cancer (TC) in relatives of TC patients has been collected using questionnaires from 797 out of 922 consecutive Norwegian and 178 out of 237 Swedish patients with TC seen at the Norwegian Radium Hospital and the University Hospital Lund in Sweden during 1981-91. Fifty-one Norwegian and five Swedish patients had a relative with confirmed TC. Thus, 51/922 (5.5%) of the Norwegian and 5/237 (2.1%) of the Swedish patients treated during the time interval investigated were considered to have familial TC. Thirty-two of the patients had an affected first-degree relative. Expected numbers of cancers in the relatives were computed from data in the Norwegian and Swedish Cancer Registries. Standardised incidence ratios (SIRs) were taken as observed numbers of TC/expected numbers of TC in the relatives. The SIR for brothers was 10.2 (95% confidence interval 6.22-15.77). SIR for fathers was 4.3 (1.6-9.3) and for sons 5.7 (0.7-23.2). The point estimate for the risk to brothers in the Norwegian part of the sample to develop TC by the age of 60 was 4.1% (95% CI 1.7-6.6%). This study indicates that genetic factors may be of greater importance in TC than previously assumed. Patients with familial testicular cancer had bilateral tumours more often than sporadic cases (9.8% bilaterality in familial vs 2.8% in sporadic cases, P=0.02). For patients with seminoma age of onset was lower in familial than in sporadic cases (32.9 vs 37.6 years, P=0.06). In father-son pairs, there was a statistically significant earlier age of diagnosis in the generation of sons (28.8 years vs 44.9 years, P=0.04). The prevalence of undescended testis (UDT) did not seem to be higher in familial than in sporadic TC (8.2% in familial TC and 13.3% in sporadic cases). This may indicate that different factors are of importance for the development of familial TC and UDT.

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; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Family Health, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Norway, Pedigree, Risk Factors, Sweden, Testicular Neoplasms
in
British Journal of Cancer
volume
73
issue
7
pages
6 pages
publisher
Nature Publishing Group
external identifiers
  • scopus:0029920620
  • pmid:8611416
ISSN
0007-0920
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
4ff3ab36-7a7a-4a8c-b7a4-c97515a91cec
date added to LUP
2016-09-18 12:53:44
date last changed
2024-04-05 04:53:54
@article{4ff3ab36-7a7a-4a8c-b7a4-c97515a91cec,
  abstract     = {{<p>Information about occurrence of testicular cancer (TC) in relatives of TC patients has been collected using questionnaires from 797 out of 922 consecutive Norwegian and 178 out of 237 Swedish patients with TC seen at the Norwegian Radium Hospital and the University Hospital Lund in Sweden during 1981-91. Fifty-one Norwegian and five Swedish patients had a relative with confirmed TC. Thus, 51/922 (5.5%) of the Norwegian and 5/237 (2.1%) of the Swedish patients treated during the time interval investigated were considered to have familial TC. Thirty-two of the patients had an affected first-degree relative. Expected numbers of cancers in the relatives were computed from data in the Norwegian and Swedish Cancer Registries. Standardised incidence ratios (SIRs) were taken as observed numbers of TC/expected numbers of TC in the relatives. The SIR for brothers was 10.2 (95% confidence interval 6.22-15.77). SIR for fathers was 4.3 (1.6-9.3) and for sons 5.7 (0.7-23.2). The point estimate for the risk to brothers in the Norwegian part of the sample to develop TC by the age of 60 was 4.1% (95% CI 1.7-6.6%). This study indicates that genetic factors may be of greater importance in TC than previously assumed. Patients with familial testicular cancer had bilateral tumours more often than sporadic cases (9.8% bilaterality in familial vs 2.8% in sporadic cases, P=0.02). For patients with seminoma age of onset was lower in familial than in sporadic cases (32.9 vs 37.6 years, P=0.06). In father-son pairs, there was a statistically significant earlier age of diagnosis in the generation of sons (28.8 years vs 44.9 years, P=0.04). The prevalence of undescended testis (UDT) did not seem to be higher in familial than in sporadic TC (8.2% in familial TC and 13.3% in sporadic cases). This may indicate that different factors are of importance for the development of familial TC and UDT.</p>}},
  author       = {{Heimdal, K and Olsson, Håkan and Tretli, S and Flodgren, P and Børresen, A L and Fossa, S D}},
  issn         = {{0007-0920}},
  keywords     = {{Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Family Health; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Norway; Pedigree; Risk Factors; Sweden; Testicular Neoplasms}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{7}},
  pages        = {{9--964}},
  publisher    = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{British Journal of Cancer}},
  title        = {{Familial testicular cancer in Norway and southern Sweden}},
  volume       = {{73}},
  year         = {{1996}},
}