Increased incidence of testicular cancer in active duty members of the Department of Defense

Abstract

Objectives. Multiple reports have noted an increase in testicular cancer incidence in virtually all world populations. We sought to determine whether an increase in testicular cancer incidence has occurred in active duty members of the Department of Defense (DOD). Methods. The total number of tumors accessioned at all DOD tumor registries, encompassing virtually all tumors diagnosed in active duty personnel, was obtained from the centralized DOD tumor registry. The number of men on active duty in the DOD was obtained from the Defense Manpower Data Center. Results. The rate of testicular cancer increased from 8.62/100,000 active duty men in 1988 to 15.38/100,000 in 1996. Conclusions. These data corroborate observations from multiple other populations that the incidence of testicular cancer is increasing. The explanation for this observation is unknown.