Cannabis use 'may increase testicular cancer risk'
Men who use cannabis may face an increased risk of certain types of testicular cancer, a new study in Cancer journal suggests.
Men who use cannabis may face an increased risk of certain types of testicular cancer, a new study in Cancer journal suggests.
Researchers at the University of Southern California looked at 163 young men, all of whom had been diagnosed with testicular cancer, as well as 292 healthy males.
They found that men with a history of cannabis use were twice as likely to have non-seminoma or mixed germ cell tumours, both of which tend to have a poorer prognosis than the seminoma subtype of testicular cancer.
Dr Victoria Cortessis, assistant professor of preventive medicine at the university's Keck School of Medicine, said it is not yet known how cannabis use may lead to cancer.
'We speculate that it may be acting through the endocannabinoid system - the cellular network that responds to the active ingredient in marijuana - since this system has been shown to be important in the formation of sperm,' she added.
Testicular cancer accounts for just three in every 200 cancers diagnosed in men in the UK, making it a relatively rare form of cancer.
http://www.netdoctor.co.uk 10/09/2012
S
Soft Secrets
