Lighting up a cigarette has known cancer-causing consequences, but marijuana’s link to cancer has been less understood. Now, after a meta-analysis of 25 studies, scientists say that smoking marijuana heavily for at least a decadeheightens the risk of one startling disease: testicular cancer. Co-author Deborah Korenstein, a physician at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, tellsInversethat, importantly, this risk is “not huge.”
However, she does emphasize that men who currently use marijuana should be aware that regular use probably does increase this risk. Regular use in the United States is not uncommon: Approximately 13 percent of Americans say they “regularly” smoke, and this rate is higher among people between the ages of 18 and 29.
The systematic literature review spans fifty years of data and was published in the journal JAMA. The review explored smoking marijuana’s potential links to dozens of types of cancer, including lung, head, neck, and urogenital cancers.
The researchers discovered that heavy marijuana use (a daily joint for ten years) was associated with the development of testicular germ cell tumors (TGCT), which make up 95 percent of all testicular cancers. Heavy weed smokers had a 36 percent higher chance of developing TGCT than non-weed smokers, the study shows.
Study links long-term smoking with a heightened risk for testicular cancer.
Korenstein explains that, presently, her team doesn’t know how these results are influenced by dose or duration. One joint a day for ten years could amount to the same as five joints per day for four years. This will have to be determined in subsequent studies.
TGCT is the most common cancer in men between ages 20 and 40, and affects about 2 percent of all men. TGCT can grow quickly: Often, men notice a small painless bump on their testicle or change in ball size. They can look for signs of TGCT using a self-exam.
Other researchers have connected heavy cannabis use with higher incidence of testicular cancer. But in this review, the evidence for increased risk of TGCT wasn’t strong. More research is needed to confirm just how risky smoking weed is for testicular health.
What’s in a puff?
Weed smoke shares some dangerous similarities to cigarette smoke. A puff of weed and tobacco both contain carcinogens, substances capable of causing cancer in living tissue. In fact, some research shows toxic gases, such as benzo[a]pyrene and phenols, are 20 times higher in unfiltered marijuana than cigarette smoke.
Because people tend to take larger puffs, hold their breath longer, and inhale more deeply when they smoke weed versus cigarettes, they can have higher exposure to harmful properties like tar and carbon monoxide.
Because of this dangerous overlap in the properties of cigarette and marijuana smoke, an uptick in lung cancer seems likely from heavy weed smoking. The review suggests heavy marijuana smoking may spike lung cancer, but the evidence was mixed.
The properties of marijuana smoke and cigarette smoke may be more similar than people think, research shows.
Scarce research meant the review’s authors couldn’t draw conclusions from the data about how regular marijuana use impacts the development of other types of cancer. Some research shows cannabinoids, compounds found in cannabis plants, inhibit proliferation of cancer cells. More longitudinal studies are needed to determine the relative risks and benefits linking marijuana and cancer.
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