Body size, dairy consumption, puberty, and risk of testicular germ cell tumors

Am J Epidemiol. 2007 Feb 15;165(4):355-63. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwk019. Epub 2006 Nov 16.

Abstract

The etiology of testicular germ cell tumors (TGCTs) is poorly understood, with cryptorchidism and family history being the only well-established risk factors. Body size, age at puberty, and dairy consumption, however, have been suggested to be related to TGCTs. To clarify the relation of these variables to TGCT risk and to one another, the authors analyzed data from 767 cases and 928 controls enrolled in the Servicemen's Testicular Tumor Environmental and Endocrine Determinants Study (2002-2005). Overall, increased height was significantly related to risk (odds ratio (OR) = 1.83, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.36, 2.45), though body mass index was not (OR = 1.06, 95% CI: 0.66, 1.69). There was no association with age at puberty, based on ages at first shaving (OR = 1.29, 95% CI: 0.96, 1.73), voice changing (OR = 0.97, 95% CI: 0.71, 1.32), and nocturnal emissions (OR = 1.00, 95% CI: 0.73, 1.37). Similarly, there was no relation with dairy consumption at any age between birth and 12th grade. These results suggest that height is a risk factor for TGCTs, but the relation is unlikely explained by childhood dairy consumption. As adult height is largely determined in the first 2 years of life, increased attention to events in this interval may help elucidate the etiology of TGCTs.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Intramural

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Body Size / physiology*
  • Confidence Intervals
  • Dairy Products*
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Humans
  • Incidence
  • Male
  • Maryland / epidemiology
  • Middle Aged
  • Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal / epidemiology*
  • Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal / etiology
  • Odds Ratio
  • Puberty / physiology*
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Risk Factors
  • Testicular Neoplasms / epidemiology*
  • Testicular Neoplasms / etiology