Cancer incidence in men with Klinefelter syndrome

Many case reports have suggested an association between Klinefelter syndrome (KS) and cancer, but studies of the cancer incidence in larger groups of men with KS are lacking. A cohort of 696 men with KS was established from the Danish Cytogenetic Register. Information on the cancer incidence in the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:British journal of cancer 1995-02, Vol.71 (2), p.416-420
Main Authors: HASLE, H, MELLEMGAARD, A, NIELSEN, J, HANSEN, J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Biological and medical sciences
Cohort Studies
Comorbidity
Denmark - epidemiology
Disease Susceptibility
Epidemiology
Genital Neoplasms, Male - epidemiology
Germinoma - epidemiology
Germinoma - genetics
Humans
Incidence
Klinefelter Syndrome - epidemiology
Leukemia - epidemiology
Lymphoma - epidemiology
Male
Mediastinal Neoplasms - epidemiology
Mediastinal Neoplasms - genetics
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Neoplasms - epidemiology
Neoplasms - genetics
Risk
Risk Factors
Tumors
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Summary:Many case reports have suggested an association between Klinefelter syndrome (KS) and cancer, but studies of the cancer incidence in larger groups of men with KS are lacking. A cohort of 696 men with KS was established from the Danish Cytogenetic Register. Information on the cancer incidence in the cohort was obtained from the Danish Cancer Registry and compared with the expected number calculated from the age, period and site specific cancer rates for Danish men. A total of 39 neoplasms were diagnosed (relative risk = 1.1). Four mediastinal tumours were observed (relative risk = 67); all four were malignant germ cell tumours. No cases of breast cancer or testis cancer were observed. One case of prostate cancer occurred within a previously irradiated field. No excess of leukaemia or lymphoma was found. An increased risk of cancer occurred in the age group 15-30 years (relative risk = 2.7). All six tumours in this group were germ cell tumours or sarcomas. The overall cancer incidence is not increased and no routine cancer screening seems to be justified. A considerably elevated risk of mediastinal germ cell tumours occurs in the period from early adolescence until the age of 30.
ISSN:0007-0920
1532-1827
DOI:10.1038/bjc.1995.85