Le cancer à cellules germinales du testicule, élément constitutif du Syndrome de Dysgénésie Testiculaire: rôle des facteurs environnementaux et de la susceptibilité génétique

The incidence of testicular germ cell cancer has been increasing over recent decades in many countries of the world. Many studies over recent years have reported adverse trends in other aspects of male reproductive health, such as high and possibly increasing frequencies of undescended testis and hypospadias, declining semen quality, and an apparently growing demand for assisted reproduction due to male infertility. This article summarises the available evidence supporting a new concept that these male reproductive abnormalities may be signs of a single underlying entity: testicular dysgenesis syndrome (TDS). This syndrome, caused by nonspecific delays and aberrations of early testicular development, may be increasingly common because of deteriorating environmental and life-style factors that impair gonadal development. Geographical and ethnic differences in the incidence of various forms of TDS could be explained either by differences in exposure to adverse factors or by differences in genetic susceptibility to these factors.