Radiofrequency and testicular cancer (review)

Abstract

Physical agents such as ultraviolet or ionizing radiation, heat, and repetitive trauma have been related to the causation of cancer in humans. Much less clear is the association between exposure to radiofrequency, i.e. radar and microwave radiation, emitted from television screens, antennas and detection equipment, to the development of cancer. Sporadic case reports and small series suggest that this type of radiation might lead to cancer or contribute to its evolution. The association between radiofrequency and testicular damage and cancer is unproved, but clinical and experimental data are suggestive of such possibility. We have recently encountered a case of secondary severe oligospermia, followed by seminoma, most probably induced by exposure to radar and microwave radiation, in an 18-year-old man. The population handling or repairing dangerous radar facilities is too small to be evaluated by epidemiological surveys. Even it were so, this material is handled in secrecy, either military or industrial. Arousing the alertness of the medical team in those facilities and bringing better protection to the employees is the aim of our report.