DDT-related chemical linked to testicular cancer

By Will Dunham

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A chemical that comes from the pesticide DDT may raise a man's risk of developing testicular cancer, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.

They found a clear link between testicular cancer and DDE, which is created when the body or the environment breaks down the pesticide DDT.

Men with the highest levels of DDE were 70 percent more likely to have developed testicular cancer than those with the lowest levels, according to the study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

DDT was banned in the United States in 1972 and other developed countries around the same time. It remains in use in some developing countries to fight malaria.

Massive amounts of DDT were used in farming and other applications, and DDE remains widespread in the environment.

Researchers led by Katherine McGlynn of the U.S. government's National Cancer Institute examined blood samples provided by 739 men in the U.S. military with testicular cancer and 915 others who did not have it.

The link between DDE and cancer was particularly strong with a type of testicular cancer known as seminoma, which involves the sperm-producing germ cells of the testicles.

The researchers also found a somewhat lower increased risk for testicular cancer in men with higher levels of chemicals related to chlordane, which was used to kill termites and was banned in the United States in 1988.