Is male infertility associated with cancer risk?

The discovery published in the journal Human Reproduction could lead to a more personalised approach to cancer risk assessments, making cancer prevention more effective.

According to the National Institutes of Health, around 9% of men at reproductive age have experienced fertility problems.

“We know that men who experience infertility tend to have more health issues like cardiovascular disease, autoimmune conditions, earlier mortality, chronic health conditions, and cancer,” says Joemy Ramsay, PhD, the study's lead investigator, researcher at Huntsman Cancer Institute, and assistant professor in the Division of Urology­ at the University of Utah. “We wanted to look at whether the family members of these men were at higher risk for these conditions.”

In the study, Ramsay and her team used the Utah Population Database and observed parents, siblings, children, and even aunts, uncles, and cousins, of men who have been diagnosed with infertility. By observing several types of cancer at once, the team was able to develop an algorithm that clusters similar things together. This algorithm made it possible to identify roughly 13 characteristic patterns. The patterns were based on families possessing similar multi-cancer risks, instead of looking at only one cancer type at a time.

“Both cancer and subfertility are complex diseases and processes. This method helps create similar family groups, making it easier to uncover the reason behind a family being at high risk for certain diseases over others,” said Ramsay. “For families with male infertility, these findings may prompt additional conversations with their doctors. While the link is still not fully understood, it is important to have these conversations with our families, and bring your concerns to your medical team.”

Reference: Joemy M Ramsay, Michael J Madsen, Joshua J Horns, Heidi A Hanson, Nicola J Camp, Benjamin R Emery, Kenneth I Aston, Elisabeth Ferlic, James M Hotaling; Describing patterns of familial cancer risk in subfertile men using population pedigree data; Journal: Human Reproduction; https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/dead270