Testicular cancer is by far the most common cancer among young men. Our work has identified an unusual ethnic inequality in testicular cancer, whereby Māori men suffer 80 per cent higher rates than European/Other men. This is in stark contrast to other international contexts, where it is the European/White population that suffer the highest rates of this disease.
As part of a HRC Eru Pomare Career Development Award, Dr Jason Gurney led a programme of research in both testicular cancer and a congenital condition known as cryptorchidism (undescended testis), which is a risk factor for the development of testicular cancer. In addition, the C3 Research Group continue to collaborate with the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in Lyon on global trends in testicular cancer.
Key publications
Znaor, Ariana; Skakkebæk, Niels; Rajpert-De.Meyts, Ewa; Kuliš, Tomislav; Laversanne, Mathieu; Gurney, Jason; Sarfati, Diana; McGlynn, Katherine; Bray, Freddie (2022). Testicular cancer incidence and mortality in 2020. International Journal of Cancer, 151(5), p692-698.
Znaor A, Skakkebaek NE, Rajpert-De Meyts E, Laversanne M, Gurney J, Sarfati D, McGlynn K.A., Bray F. (2020). Predictions of testicular cancer incidence in Europe 2035: burden will rise in spite of population ageing. International Journal of Cancer, 147, p820-828.
Jason K. Gurney, Andrea Ayers, Ariana Znaor, Jacques Ferlay, Mathieu Laversanne, Diana Sarfati, Freddie Bray, Katherine A. McGlynn (2019). International trends in the incidence of testicular cancer: lessons from the last 35 years. European Urology, 76(5), p615-623.
Gurney, J. (2019). The puzzling incidence of testicular cancer in New Zealand: what can we learn? Andrology, 7, p394-401.
Jason Gurney, James Stanley, Katherine McGlynn, Lorenzo Richiardi, Caroline Shaw, Richard Edwards, Tony R Merriman, Bridget Robson, Jonathan Koea, Melissa McLeod, Martin Kennedy, Diana Sarfati (2018). The Testicular Cancer in New Zealand (TCNZ) study: Protocol for a national case-control study. BMJ Open, 8:e025212. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2018-025212.
Signal, V., Huang, S., Sarfati, D., Shaw, C., Stanley, J., McGlynn, K., Gurney, J. (2018). Diary consumption and risk of testicular cancer: a systematic review. Nutrition and Cancer, 70(5):p710-736.
Huang, S., Signal, V., Sarfati, D., Shaw, C., Stanley, J., McGlynn, K., Gurney, J. (2018). Physical activity and risk of testicular cancer: a systematic review. BMC Cancer, 18:189, https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-018-4093-3.
Gurney, J., Stanley, J., Shaw, C., Sarfati, D. (2016). Ethnic patterns of hypospadias in New Zealand do not resemble those observed for cryptorchidism and testicular cancer: evidence of differential aetiology? Andrology, 4, p82-86.
Gurney, J., Shaw, C., Stanley, J., Signal, V., Sarfati, D. (2015). Cannabis exposure and risk of testicular cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Cancer, 15, p1-10.
Gurney, J., Sarfati, D., Stanley, J. (2015). Obscure etiology, unusual disparity: the epidemiology of testicular cancer in New Zealand. Cancer Causes and Control, 26, p. 561-569.
Gurney, J.K., Sarfati, D., Stanley, J., Studd, R. (2013) Do ethnic differences in cryptorchidism reflect those found in testicular cancer? The Journal of Urology, 190(5), p. 1852-1857.
Sarfati D, Shaw C, Blakely T, Atkinson J, Stanley J. Ethnic and Socioeconomic trends in testicular cancer incidence in New Zealand. International Journal of Cancer. 2011 128: 1683-91.
Presentations
Testicular cancer in New Zealand: A mystery to be solved:
Hear Dr Jason Gurney talking about the mysteries of testicular cancer aetiology, and the unique opportunity that we have in New Zealand to answer some fundamental questions about this disease.