Maternal smoking and the epidemic of testicular cancer--a nested case-control study.
For no apparent reason, the incidence of testicular cancer has increased to epidemic proportions in many countries. Pregnancy smoking has been suggested to be a cause. Previous analytical studies have been negative, but the inherent difficulties in retrospective assessment of this exposure have led to no definite conclusion. We have conducted a population-based case-control study on 192 cases of testicular germ-cell cancer-born in Sweden in 1973 onwards and aged >/=15 at cancer diagnosis-and 494 matched controls, where data on maternal smoking were collected during pregnancy. We found no association with testicular cancer for maternal smoking during pregnancy (OR, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.64-1.30), and there was no evidence of a dose-response effect. We conclude that the epidemic rise in testicular cancer in many populations is not due to the surge in smoking among women.
Pettersson
Andreas
A
Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Department of Medicine, Karolinska University Hospital, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. andreas.h.pettersson@ki.se
Akre
Olof
O
Richiardi
Lorenzo
L
Ekbom
Anders
A
Kaijser
Magnus
M
D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects*; D013736:Testicular Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology