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dopeyjack · 02-10-2009, 07:16 PM

A new study by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre has revealed that frequent and/or long-term marijuana use may significantly increase a man's risk of developing the most aggressive type of testicular cancer.

Researchers found that being a marijuana smoker at the time of diagnosis was linked to a 70 per cent increased risk of testicular cancer.

The risk was particularly elevated for those who used marijuana at least weekly and/or who had long-term exposure to the substance beginning in adolescence.

The results also suggested that the association with marijuana use might be limited to nonseminoma, a fast-growing testicular malignancy that tends to strike early, between ages 20 and 35, and accounts for about 40 percent of all testicular-cancer cases.
"Our study is not the first to suggest that some aspect of a man's lifestyle or environment is a risk factor for testicular cancer, but it is the first that has looked at marijuana use," said author Stephen M. Schwartz, M.P.H., PhD, an epidemiologist and member of the Public Health Sciences Division at the Hutchinson Centre.

For the study, the researchers interviewed 369 Seattle-Puget Sound-area men, ages 18 to 44, who had been diagnosed with testicular cancer about their history of marijuana use.
For comparison purposes they also assessed marijuana use among 979 randomly selected age and geography-matched healthy controls. (More than 90 percent of the cases and 80 percent of the controls in the study were Hispanic or non-Hispanic white men, due to the fact that testicular cancer is very rare in African-Americans, and because the Seattle-Puget Sound region has a relatively small African-American population.)
Study participants were also asked about other habits that may be correlated with marijuana use, including smoking and alcohol consumption.

Even after statistically controlling for these lifestyle factors, as well as other risk factors, such as first-degree family history of testicular cancer and a history of un-descended tests, marijuana use emerged as a significant, independent risk factor for testicular cancer.

The researchers emphasize that their results are not definitive, but rather open a door to more research questions.
"Our study is the first inkling that marijuana use may be associated with testicular cancer, and we still have a lot of unanswered questions," Schwartz said, such as why marijuana appears to be associated with only one type of testicular cancer.
"We need to conduct additional research to see whether the association can be observed in other populations, and whether measurement of molecular markers connected to the pathways through which marijuana could influence testicular cancer development helps clarify any association that exists," he said.

TeeBox · 02-10-2009, 08:01 PM

Oh balls! I'll take my chances.

smokey · 02-10-2009, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TeeBox

Oh balls! I'll take my chances.

I'm with teebox

Osprey · 02-10-2009, 08:24 PM

If I do get the gonad cancer, it won't be from the weed. . . It'll be from a mountain biking or getting tagged in the nads with a fastball, years ago.

ttlganj · 02-10-2009, 08:40 PM

I saw a brief story on the news about this. It was in total black propaganda style though with no credibility to it. I looked it up later to find out it's pretty valid, I guess nothings perfect lol.

It seems to me that there's usually an opposite sex equivalent to things like this. So I wonder if there are any studies involving women.

MissChnandlerBong · 02-10-2009, 08:53 PM

Hmm.. I'd be very interested in reading the actual study report on this as it's the first I've heard of it.

But in the mean time.. a couple facts that may put your minds at ease..

- testis cancer represents only 1% of all cancers in males
- has cure rates in the high 90's due to the effectiveness of surgery and chemotherapy.

and if you're wondering where I got those from.. it's from my oncology text book. lol

Osprey · 02-10-2009, 09:14 PM

Yeeeeaaaa. . . I don't think I would want a radioactive whatsit aimed at my manbag. . . I think I would opt for surgery. If I could. . . I just can't wrap my head around the scenario of flopping my sac up on a table to have it shot with a microwave.

Beavis · 02-10-2009, 09:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Osprey

Yeeeeaaaa. . . I don't think I would want a radioactive whatsit aimed at my manbag. . . I just can't wrap my head around the scenario of flopping my sac up on a table to have it shot with a microwave.

Oh please, I have it on good authority that that's how you spent the weekend!!

SmYthie · 02-10-2009, 09:17 PM

i hope its not true. if it is, why did it take them so many years to find this out? i think it is suspicious due to the fact the obama administration is probably trying to make legalization less popular so they don't have to say right out that they won't do it.

i'm young enough where i guess this could happen, but i doubt it will. if i do get it i'll be pissed, but i'll take my chances for now

MissChnandlerBong · 02-10-2009, 09:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Osprey

Yeeeeaaaa. . . I don't think I would want a radioactive whatsit aimed at my manbag. . . I think I would opt for surgery. If I could. . . I just can't wrap my head around the scenario of flopping my sac up on a table to have it shot with a microwave.

haha.. it's quite a bit more complicated than that. But you needn't worry, radiation isn't typically used when treating nonseminomas.

Besides.. I think you'd jump at the chance to zap your .."manbag" with whatever you could if you saw what cancer can do to your body.

Osprey · 02-10-2009, 09:59 PM

I suppose that is true. I would be looking for options if something went tragically awry down thar! I don't want to reproduce, so that's no worries. . . I don't want to be a weepy fucking wreck though.

tokinGLX · 02-10-2009, 10:50 PM

Could smoking pot raise testicular cancer risk? - CNN.com

Quote:

"The bottom line is that I would not start warning my marijuana smokers that they are going to get testicular cancer," he said. "I don't think there's enough here to go forward with that message, at least not yet."

Osprey · 02-10-2009, 10:55 PM

Well, like most things ever evaluated by the medical community, we still don't fucking know anything. Nice. Milk was bad, then good, same with coffee and every other damn thing that we ingest. . . Wankers.

DGC1982 · 02-11-2009, 05:11 AM

I don't know how many times I've said, "I would give my left nut for that!" Mary Jane is worthy and worth the risk. Hell, she can have both of them. Although, I can't deny the severity of the issue, so I will be seeing the doctor more often cuz cancer is no joke. Just hope that if it happens to me, it will be detected in the early stages.

This thread sucks now I'm all paranoid and shit. Damn buzz kill.

MissChnandlerBong · 02-11-2009, 06:16 AM

meh.. I wouldn't worry. And I'm not just saying that because it doesn't apply to me :P. They're saying it's a possible cause.. not that it's increasing incidence. Testicular cancer is still extremely rare in comparison to other cancers.

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