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Hypospadias and cryptorchidism are potential manifestations of testicular dysgenesis syndrome (TDS) at birth. Anogenital distance (AGD) has been presumed as an indicator related to endocrine disruptors proposed as one of the pathogenetic mechanisms underlying male reproductive disorders. In humans, recent studies have correlated AGD in boys to testicular anomalies. However, the associations between hypospadias, cryptorchidism and AGD remain inconsistent and have not been combined. Hence, we conducted a meta‐analysis to assess gradations in the severity of the endocrine disruption in cryptorchidism or hypospadias by using AGD. A total of 2,119 boys from five birth cohort studies and two cross‐sectional studies were subjected to meta‐analysis. Random‐effect model was used to calculate the standardised mean difference (SMD) of AGD. Our results reveal that boys with hypospadias or cryptorchidism have shorter AGD ([SMD, −2.63; 95% CI, −4.65 to −0.62] and [SMD, −0.69; 95% CI, −1.36 to −0.02]) respectively. There was no indication of a publication bias either from the result of Egger's test or Begg's test for hypospadias and cryptorchidism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past decades, there is an increasing number of association studies of telomere length (TL) and the risk and recurrence of prostate cancer (PCa), but the results are inconsistent. Hence, we identify the relevant studies published in English on or before 10 January 2019 conducting a literature review in the electronic databases including PubMed, EMBASE and Cochrane Library. Twelve studies (with 19 data sets) were included in this meta‐analysis, five of which were associated with risk assessment, six of which reported recurrence of PCa and one of which included them. Our meta‐analysis demonstrated a positive association of shorter telomeres in patients with PCa, but without statistical significance (OR, 1.23; 95% CI: 0.91–1.66). Shorter telomeres in stroma (OR, 2.40; 95% CI: 1.61–3.56) and epithelium (OR, 1.70; 95% CI: 1.33–2.16) were positively correlated with PCa, but in leucocyte (OR, 0.81; 95% CI: 0.73–0.91) had negative association with PCa. Furthermore, two studies combined yielded a pooled OR of 2.87 (95% CI: 1.22–6.76) for the association between shorter TL and metastasis. These results are novel and give further strength to formulate eligible individualising treatment and surveillance strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]