Toddler Testicular Cancer

You may have heard the news about Zantac and cancer.

In September of 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced it would investigate the Zantac cancer link. An online pharmacy that conducted testing on Zantac tablets found a cancer-causing chemical at levels up to 3,000 times greater than the FDA’s legally allowable limit.

The carcinogenic chemical in Zantac (ranitidine) is called N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA). The FDA, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) all classify NDMA as a carcinogen (a substance that has the potential to cause cancer).

Testicular Cancer in Children | Cancer Attorneys

The Zantac cancer attorneys from the law firm of Wisner Baum believe that the cancer-causing chemical found in Zantac can be transferred to babies in the womb when the medication is taken by pregnant mothers. As horrifying as it sounds, we believe that Zantac may be causing testicular cancer in children.

If you took Zantac (by prescription or Zantac OTC) while pregnant and your son was diagnosed with testicular cancer, we believe you have a legal claim against the drug manufacturers. Our firm intends to hold the Zantac manufacturers (Boehringer Ingelheim, Sanofi, Chattem, Pfizer, and GlaxoSmithKline) accountable for failing to warn pregnant mothers and consumers about the cancer risk associated with Zantac.

Can a Child Get Testicular Cancer?

As distressing as it sounds, you can have a baby born with testicular cancer. While testicular cancer is most common between the ages of 15 and 35, the disease can happen at any age.

Testicular tumors are tissue growths on the testicle. They can occur in the first two years of life, boyhood, or during teenage years after puberty. Testicular tumors among babies or toddlers generally differ from testicular tumors that occur among boys or teens.

For children younger than two, most testicular tumors are benign and do not spread to other parts of the body. Benign testicular tumors still require an operation, however. Some testicular tumors that occur in babies and toddlers can be malignant testicular cancer, which means the cancer cells can spread throughout the body to the lymph nodes, liver, lungs, brain, or other areas.

What Causes Testicular Cancer in Babies?

The cause of testicular cancer in baby boys was unknown until the link to Zantac was unearthed. Most malignant testicular tumors originate from the cells in the testicles that produce sperm (the germ cells).

According to the American Cancer Society, boys with undescended testicles are at an increased risk for developing testicular tumors. For most baby boys, testicles descend from the abdomen into the scrotum before birth. For roughly 3% of baby boys, however, one or both testicles do not descend all the way before they are born.

The attorneys at Wisner Baum also believe that in utero exposure to Zantac may be a cause of testicular cancer in boys. Alarmingly, Zantac (ranitidine) is in the FDA’s category B for birth defects, meaning it is considered safe for mothers to take during pregnancy.

In animal studies, however, subjects exposed to NDMA (the chemical in Zantac) during pregnancy gave birth to offspring with elevated rates of cancer in the liver and kidney. We have reason to believe that prenatal exposure to Zantac also increases the risk of testicular cancer for babies born to mothers who were told they could take Zantac to control heartburn and other gastro-intestinal issues. According to EPA cancer guidelines, “tumors observed in animals are generally assumed to indicate that an agent may produce tumors in humans.”

Signs and Symptoms of Pediatric Testicular Tumors | What to Look For

Below are some of the most common signs of pediatric testicular tumors that parents should be on the lookout for:

• Painless lump in testicle
• Weight in the scrotum
• Testicle swelling with pain or without
• Ache or pain in the testicles or groin area

Any of these signs should be reported to a doctor immediately, especially if they last for more than a week or two. The first thing a urologist will do is rule out other potential causes for the symptoms described above, including epididymitis, an inguinal hernia, testicular torsion, or hydrocele.