Men are at higher risk of most cancers than women

The study was published in a journal cancera peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.

In it, researchers report that the cause may not be behavioral differences related to smoking, alcohol use, diet, and other factors, but rather underlying biological sex differences.

Sarah S. JacksonA researcher at the National Cancer Institute, PhD, and her colleagues set out to assess differences in cancer risk between men and women at 21 cancer sites.

The study involved 171,274 men and 122,826 women aged 50 to 71 years. NIH-AARP Diet and Health Research From 1995 to 2011.

During that time, 17,951 new cancers occurred in men and 8,742 new cancers in women.

The findings suggest that biological differences between men and women, including physiological, immunological and genetic factors, play a major role in cancer susceptibility in men and women, the researchers said. said.

“Our results show that there are differences in cancer incidence that cannot be explained by environmental exposure alone. ,” Jackson told Healthline.

“After adjusting for factors such as smoking, alcohol use, diet, physical activity, and general medical conditions, we found that gender bias remained in most cancers,” she added.

Differences in risk behavior and carcinogen exposure between men and women account for only a small proportion of the male preponderance of most cancers (ranging from 11% for esophageal cancer to 50% for lung cancer). reported the researchers.

Jackson said her team hypothesized that lifestyle factors were not the only reason cancer rates differed between men and women.

“But we were a little surprised that for many cancers, these lifestyle factors accounted for only a fraction of the differences,” Jackson said. These are just a few of the differences between men and women. “

Differences in conditions such as smoking, diet and diabetes between men and women account for “only 20% of the male-biased bladder cancer, with men three times more likely to develop it than women,” Jackson explained. Said there was

However, experts note that lifestyle factors can still have an impact impact Therefore, it encourages men and women to maintain a healthy diet, exercise regularly, avoid tobacco and drink alcohol.

Incidence rates were lower in men than in women only for thyroid and gallbladder cancers.Studies found that the risk for men was 1.3 to 10.8 times higher than for women at other institutions.

Males had the highest risk of esophageal cancer (10.8-fold), laryngeal (3.5-fold), gastric cardia (3.5-fold) and bladder cancer (3.3-fold).

Men had a higher risk of most cancers, even after adjusting for a wide range of risk behaviors and exposure to carcinogens.

accompany editorial Discussion of the findings of this study points to the need for a multifaceted approach to addressing gender differences in cancer.

“Strategic inclusion of gender as a biological variable has implications for the cancer continuum, from risk prediction and primary cancer prevention, cancer screening and secondary prevention, to cancer treatment and patient management. It should be carried out along the entire body,” wrote the editor.

“Investigating and addressing gender disparities in cancer and other diseases is an ongoing quest. It’s a scalable means within easy reach to achieve and has the potential to reduce and ultimately eradicate the gender disparity in cancer, they added.

Dr. Sandip PatelProfessor of Clinical Oncology and Director of the Office of Clinical Trials at the University of California, San Diego. “

Patel said the study shows “we are at the tip of the iceberg when it comes to gender differences in cancer.”

He said there are real biological differences that we need to better understand.

“We need to continue this kind of research, just as we did with COVID-19. Have learned Women in certain age groups outperformed men,” he said.

Jackson told Healthline that he would like to follow up on studies that look more closely at these sex-related biological mechanisms.

“The dataset we used consists primarily of non-Hispanic white adults. We want to see if same-sex prejudice exists in other ethnic groups. It will provide more evidence of the biological basis for the differences.

Jackson added that he hopes future studies will also investigate the impact of sex hormones and genetics on cancer incidence.

“These biological differences include sex hormones and genetics that influence immune responses,” she said. “If we can discover the mechanisms by which women gain an immune advantage, we may be able to develop therapies that strengthen the immune system for cancer prevention and treatment.”