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Doping and testicular cancer

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franic

franic

Oct 4, 2014
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IamIronMan

May 18, 2015
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No. Statistically speaking, it's around 1:300 men who are diagnosed. So it's not super rare. It's probably just as likely that is has to do with being scrunched up in cycling shorts and cutting off your circulation sitting on a bike saddle for years and years. And that is to say, not very likely. I think this is just a statistical average amongst men who also happen to be pro cyclists.

Now if we start hearing about more and more, then maybe you are onto something, but for now, I'm going to reserve judgement.
 
King Boonen

King Boonen

Jul 25, 2012
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I think until we see a massive rise in testicular cancer rates across sports (because it's not just cycling were there are accusations of growth hormone abuse) then it's just wild speculation that should be left at that.
 
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Tommy79

Mar 31, 2015
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franic said:
I guess everybody read about Ivan Basso’s testicular cancer. Of course the first thought is for Ivan: we all hope he will be fine soon.
Nonetheless this is the second case, after Armstrong, of a doped guy with testicular cancer. Many think growth hormone lead to Armstrong testicular cancer; the same may apply to Ivan Basso.
What are your thoughts? Are we going to see a boom in cancer among professional cyclists of the big doping era (i.e. 90s) ?
Click to expand...

Googled is and about 1 of every 263 males will develop testicular cancer at some point during his life.

So... nothing to suggest it is higher in the peloton?
 
staubsauger

staubsauger

Jul 27, 2009
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First I really wanted to say *** you. But yeah with a second thought, sadly enough this might be a legit discussion.

Guess it's gonna become worrying in future with all those genetic AICAR fakes around, causing lung tumours etc on long-term.
 
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I Love To Dope

Jun 28, 2014
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So 2 in 10 years have developed testicular cancer in a field that has had how many compete during this time not be diagnosed with the disease? And since doping is not exclusive to cycling, where are the same diagnosis' in other sports?

What a stupid and insensitive thought.
 
SeriousSam

SeriousSam

Aug 31, 2012
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Re:

Some substances may well increase the chance of getting cancer. Because we don't observe who takes what and how often, we can't really say much, we can't even establish an association, never mind causation.
 
JackRabbitSlims

JackRabbitSlims

Jan 10, 2010
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the cancerous bollock of lance armstrong
was the size of an orange iirc
before he was smart enough to realise

this isn't right
maybe i need to see a doctor
which speaks volumes

ivan is lucky that the tumour has been found very early on
and hopefully treatable

wishing him a safe and speedy recovery
 
Catwhoorg

Catwhoorg

Aug 24, 2011
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Not enough data.

For Basso it does sound like its caught early, (I'm not a medical doctor, and certainly not HIS doctor), in which case the prognosis is pretty good.

Jonas Guiteriez (Newcastle United) just recovered from his battle with this particular cancer.
 
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PeterB

Feb 20, 2012
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Some interesting reading on the topic can be found on the internet.
This is a recent study http://www.nature.com/bjc/journal/v112/n7/full/bjc201526a.html results of which are commented also here http://globalnews.ca/news/1952816/s...pplements-increase-risk-of-testicular-cancer/
Result of the study:
The odds ratio for ever use of Muscle-building supplements in relation to risk of testicular germ cell cancer was significantly elevated.
19 per cent of the men who had testicular cancer had taken supplements, compared to only 12 per cent of the men without cancer. Accordingly, there was a large and statistically significant association between supplement use and testicular cancer.
Click to expand...
It seems the link between the two is not yet proven, but indications exist. Maybe we will not know for sure for a long time.
 
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arthurvandelay

May 22, 2011
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For what it is worth I discussed this very topic many times over the years with my urologic colleagues (I am an anesthetist). They thought that Wonderboys known and alleged long term use of anabolic and catabolic steroids certainly was not the smartest thing to do, either in terms of malignancy risk or with respect to other health problems in the future. But they always were cautious to say that there is simply no way to know if such drug use was a direct cause of his malignancy.

As other posters have mentioned we probably will have to wait some time to see if there is going to be a big spike in this malignancy that could be attributed to PED abuse. :rolleyes:
 
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mikez

Jul 6, 2015
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arthurvandelay said:
For what it is worth I discussed this very topic many times over the years with my urologic colleagues (I am an anesthetist). They thought that Wonderboys known and alleged long term use of anabolic and catabolic steroids certainly was not the smartest thing to do, either in terms of malignancy risk or with respect to other health problems in the future. But they always were cautious to say that there is simply no way to know if such drug use was a direct cause of his malignancy.

As other posters have mentioned we probably will have to wait some time to see if there is going to be a big spike in this malignancy that could be attributed to PED abuse. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Well, Armstrong did send out a tweet of "support". Coincidence?
 
M

More Strides than Rides

Mar 15, 2011
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There is a book I haven't read, by an author I'm a fan of, called "Fooled by Randomness". More or less, it's about statisticians, economists rearchers etc. getting it wrong.

@nntaleb: How unpredictability rises faster and faster with dimensionality: add one variable to 100 and error doubles
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/50282823/Propagation.pdf

A technical paper beyond my comprehension, but he summarizes the point in his tweet. Things are complicated. Cancer is complicated. Cancer rates are complicated. The interaction between the two will never be simple.

I say this a lot in the clinic, but the sport is complicated. Whether we are talking training adaptations, nutrion, doping, sports psych, or cancer, there are too many pieces to account for.

When talking about the body, there are hundreds of variables to consider. Maybe I'm stretching the topic, but this is my biggest frustration with over-sciencing the sport: it does a fisservice to actual knowledge.
 
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2008885

Jul 13, 2010
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mikez said:
Well, Armstrong did send out a tweet of "support". Coincidence?
Click to expand...

Susan, can you lock this before someone says something really offensive about a man with cancer?
 
I

IndianCyclist

Nov 12, 2010
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The number is 3. You are forgetting Irizar.
But it looks pretty unlikely as it should be similar across all sports especially the weightlifters/bodybuilders w.r.t hcg or testosterone. Most likely to do with position of cyclists as other posters have already pointed out.
 
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