Men who use marijuana are twice as likely to develop dangerous forms of testicular cancer, according to new research.Picture: AP/Peter Dejong Source: AP
MEN who use marijuana are twice as likely to develop more dangerous types of testicular cancer while those who use cocaine have a reduced risk of the cancers.
However, young males who are considering switching their recreational drug preferences to prevent cancer should be aware they might end up reducing their fertility a new study suggests.
Testicular cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in men aged 15 to 45 and the rate of the condition is rising.
Researchers at the University of Southern California studied the recreational drug use of 163 young men with testicular cancer and compared it with 292 health men of the same age.
The research found men who used marijuana were twice as likely to have non-seminoma and mixed germ cell testicular cancers that carry a worse prognosis.
Professor of Preventive medicine Victoria Cortesis who led the research said scientists did not yet know what marijuana triggers in the testis that may lead to cancer but speculated the drug may be acting through the endocannabinoid system - the cellular network that responds to the active ingredient in marijuana - which was also important in the formation of sperm.
The study also found that men who had a history of cocaine use had reduced risks of testicular cancer and researchers speculate the drug may kill sperm-producing cells as it does in animals.
?If this is correct, then ?prevention? would come at a high price,? Professor Cortessis said. ?Fertility would also be impaired?.
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