San Diego, CA USA (UroToday.com) A very interesting podium presentation was presented in today’s sexual Function/Dysfunction: Penis/Testis/Urethra: Benign Disease & Malignant Disease I session at the AUA 2016 that described The Incidence and Treatment of Hypogonadism in Patients with Testicular Cancer.
Dr. Jamal Nabhani reminded all that even though the diagnosis of testicular cancer (TC) has been associated with hypogonadism, the mechanistic and clinical interrelation remains unclear. The authors investigated the pattern of diagnosis and treatment of hypogonadism in men with TC. They used Humana administrative claims data from 2007-2013 and identified men with and without a diagnosis of TC. Testosterone laboratory and prescription data were analyzed between the cohorts and by decade of life in order to adjust for differences in the rates of hypogonadism with age. 2,647 men with and 6.3 million without TC were identified. 428 men with testis cancer (16.2%) had a serum testosterone checked. 211 of the 428 men with TC who had a serum testosterone measured (8.0% of all men with testis cancer) were found to have a low serum testosterone. The OR of having a low testosterone was 3.8 in men with TC compared to controls. In terms of ART, 225 men (8.5%) with TC were prescribed testosterone. The OR of receiving a prescription was 4.5 95% CI [4.2,5.5] times higher than in men without TC and disproportionately high in younger men, with an 8.1 fold increase in the third decade of life. The authors conclude that Men with a diagnosis of TC are four times more likely to have a serum testosterone checked, be diagnosed with hypogonadism, and receive ART. Serum testosterone is measured and more frequently found to be low in elderly patients with a history of TC compared to age-matched controls. Additionally, hypogonadism predates the diagnosis of testis cancer in 2% of patients.
Presented By: Jamal Nabhani, MD
Written By: Miki Haifler MD. Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA. at the 2016 AUA Annual Meeting - May 6 - 10, 2016 – San Diego, California, USA