Risk Factors

A risk factor is anything that increases a person’s chance of developing cancer. Some risk factors can be controlled, such as smoking, and some cannot be controlled, such as age and family history. Although risk factors can influence the development of cancer, most do not directly cause cancer. Some people with several risk factors never develop cancer, while others with no known risk factors do. However, knowing your risk factors and communicating them to your doctor may help you make more informed lifestyle and health-care choices.

Although the cause of testicular cancer is not known, the following factors can raise a man’s risk of developing testicular cancer:

Age. Testicular cancer is most common in men between 20 and 45, but men of any age can develop this disease.

Family history. A man who has a close relative (particularly a brother) who has had testicular cancer has an increased risk of developing testicular cancer.

Personal history. Men who have had cancer in one testicle have an increased risk of developing cancer in the other testicle.

Race. Although men of any race can have testicular cancer, white men are more likely than men of other races to be diagnosed with testicular cancer.

Cryptorchidism (undescended testicle). Men with this condition, in which one or both testicles do not descend into the scrotum before birth as they normally should, have an increased risk of developing testicular cancer. This risk may be lowered if surgery is performed to correct the condition before the boy reaches puberty. Some doctors have recommended that cryptorchidism be corrected when a boy is very young, between six and 15 months, in order to reduce the risk of infertility (inability to produce children). Because cryptorchidism is corrected at a young age, many men may not know if they had the condition.

Klinefelter’s syndrome. Men with this condition have an extra X chromosome, which results in low levels of male hormones, infertility, breast enlargement, and small testicles; it also increases the risk of developing germ cell tumors that begin in the chest, but this is rare.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Men with HIV, the virus that causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), have a slightly higher risk of developing seminoma.