Testicular Cancer

Testicular cancer is highly curable and, though relatively rare, it is the most common cancer among young men. Incidence of testicular cancer has been increasing constantly around the world since the beginning of the twentieth century, but factors responsible for the rise in incidence remain enigmatic. Only few risk factors for testicular cancer are established, including age, ethnic group, cryptorchidism and hypospadias, contralateral testicular cancer, family history, and height. While analytic epidemiologic research has provided numerous etiologic clues, many of them remain tentative. Overwhelming evidence indicates the fundamental importance of environmental factors in the etiology of this enigmatic cancer. Prenatal exposures seem to be instrumental in shaping the risk of testicular cancer, but postnatal exposures acting in childhood, adolescence, and very early adulthood are also important. Testicular cancer has also a strong genetic component that is studied through international collaborations and genome-wide association studies.