EAU 2017: Testicular cancer in patients with learning disabilities in England from 2001-2015: A national cohort study

London, England (UroToday.com) There are 1.5 million people in the UK with learning disabilities (LD). This vulnerable group may receive less benefit from public education campaigns regarding their health than non-LD counterparts. Given the concern for a decreased ability to perform testis self-examination, the authors’ objective was to assess testis cancer-related survival characteristics of men with LD compared to non-LD counterparts.

Patient records were identified from the Hospital Episode Statistics database from 2001 to 2015. Patients coded as having a diagnosis of “mental retardation” or “developmental disorder of scholastic skills” or being admitted as an outpatient/inpatient with a diagnosis of “learning disabilities” were included in the study.

Of 158,138 male patients identified with a learning disability, 331 (9.67%) had testicular cancer. Thirty-two men died from their cancer. In the general population, there were 713 (n = 25,675, 2.78%) total cancer-specific deaths. LD patients had a poorer prognosis with 10-year cancer specific survival of 88.4% (95% CI 84.5%-92.4%) compared to non-LD patients (96.9%, 95% CI 96.6%-97.1%).

The authors concluded that LD individuals in England have worse testis cancer-specific survival than non-LD counterparts. Education regarding self-examination for testis cancer must be provided in a format suitable for individuals with moderate to severe LD. Care-takers for male patients with LD should be informed about testicular examination and symptoms of disease.

Speaker(s): M. Afshar, Birmingham, UK

Benjamin T. Ristau, MD, SUO Fellow, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA

at the #EAU17 - March 24-28, 2017- London, England

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