Fertility and offspring sex ratio of men who develop testicular cancer: a record linkage study.
Analysis of associations between testicular cancer, subfertility and offspring sex ratio (proportion of males born among newborns) was performed on 3530 Danish men, born 1945-1980, who developed testicular cancer in the period 1960-1993. As the basis of comparison we used the total population of Danish men born in the period 1945-1980 (n = 1 488 957) and their biological children (n = 1 250 989). Men who developed testicular cancer had, prior to the cancer diagnosis, a reduced fertility (standardized fertility rate ratio: 0.93, 95% confidence interval: 0.89-0.97) and a significantly lower proportion of boys (48.9%, P: = 0.02) compared with the general population (51.3%). The reduction in fertility was more pronounced in men with non-seminoma but the reduction in offspring sex ratio was independent of histological type. This confirms earlier results from less conclusive studies and indicates that testicular cancer, male subfertility and a female-biased sex ratio among new-born infants are characteristics of male reproduction that are linked by biological mechanisms.
Jacobsen
R
R
Centre for Research in Health & Social Statistics, Sejrøgade 11, DK-2100, Denmark. R.jacobsen@pubhealth.ku.dk
Bostofte
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E
Engholm
G
G
Hansen
J
J
Skakkebaek
N E
NE
Møller
H
H
D000328:Adult; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D005298:Fertility; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012042:Registries; D018239:Seminoma / Q000453:epidemiology; D012744:Sex Ratio; D013736:Testicular Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology*