Risk Factors
- Orchiopexy--surgical placement of an undescended testis. The risk factor
here is the scrotal surgery, not the procedure itself.
- Age--most common in young adults 20-40 years
- Race--whites are 6 times more likely to develop testicular cancer than
blacks
- Vasectomy--surgical separation of the seminal vesicles for contraception.
The risk factor here is the scrotal surgery, not the vasectomy.
- Testicular trauma--crushing injury, blunt trauma (such as getting knee'd
in the groin) and other accidental injuries; risk of cancer is not known
but is under investigation.
- Other--orchitis (inflammation of the testicle); irradiation
- Men with a history of hernia
- Men with extra nipples
- Men with a history of infertility problems
- Men with cryptorchidism
or undescended testes, which is the failure of one or both testicles to
descend from the pelvis (about 10 percent of men with testicular cancer
have a history of cryptorchidism)