Men with infertility or subfertility (reduced fertility) have a higher risk of developing testicular cancer , according to research carried out by a team of scientists from the University of Utah (USA) and collected in the journal Fertility and Sterility .
Men with azoospermia , a disorder in which a man does not have a measurable level of sperm in his semen and is associated with very low levels of fertility, would be the group with the highest percentage of risk of testicular cancer.
To reach this conclusion, the researchers followed more than 20,000 men who underwent semen analysis as part of infertility treatment between 1996 and 2011 . In the same way, their results were compared with a control group of 20,000 fertile men.
In the first group, 421 cases of cancer were diagnosed , the most frequent being skin cancer -not melanoma-, testicular and prostate.
Examination of the data showed that those with reduced fertility were three times more likely to develop testicular cancer than men in the control group. In men with abnormally low sperm levels, the risk increased up to 10 times.
However, the study does not establish a direct cause and effect relationship: “This study provides new insights that will help deliver better patient care and provides a solid foundation for the research needed to identify and ultimately address physiological problems. underlying causes that can lead to infertility or cancer ”, explains Robert Oates, co-author of the work.
