Fertility and offspring sex ratio of men who develop testicular cancer: a record linkage study

Hum Reprod. 2000 Sep;15(9):1958-61. doi: 10.1093/humrep/15.9.1958.

Abstract

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.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Denmark / epidemiology
  • Fertility*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Registries
  • Seminoma / epidemiology
  • Sex Ratio*
  • Testicular Neoplasms / epidemiology*