Nearly 10,000 American males – the vast majority of them under age 50 – are diagnosed with testicular cancer each year. “The incidence of testicular cancer has been steadily rising,” says urologist Nirmish Singla, M.D., “and the rate of increase has been highest among the Hispanic population.”

Recently, former Brady urologic oncology fellow Michael Rezaee, M.D., M.P.H., and Hopkins medical oncologist Roy Elias, M.D., co-led a clinical and molecular study using data from the National Cancer Institute’s SEER Registry and the American Association for Cancer Research’s database, GENIE.

Among nearly 44,000 patients diagnosed with testicular cancer between 2000 and 2020, they found the proportion of Hispanic patients steadily rose. “Compared to non-Hispanic White patients, Hispanic patients were more likely to be diagnosed at a younger age but more likely to harbor more advanced disease including metastases at diagnosis and more aggressive pathologic features,” says Singla, senior author of the study, which was published in Urologic Oncology: Seminars and Original Investigations. “They also were more likely to die of their cancer.”

What accounts for this rise in incidence among Hispanic males? It is likely complicated: instead of one or a few tell-tale bad genes, it is probably a combination of genetic, social, and environmental factors, Singla continues. “We still have a lot of work to do to understand and combat this alarming trend. Access to care, cultural barriers, quality of care, and biology may all influence outcomes in Hispanic patients diagnosed with testicular cancer.” Increasing public awareness, so the disease can be diagnosed sooner, is essential, he notes, “and more adequately representing minority groups in future studies is paramount to improving outcomes. When caught early, this is a highly curable form of cancer.”