Study reveals why cancer rates are higher among men

Researchers analyzed data from 589,766 adults aged 40 to 74 from three long-running studies in China and the UK. During follow-up, 70,300 cases of cancers affecting both sexes were recorded. Breast and cancers of the reproductive organs were excluded from the analysis.

The study examined 11 potentially modifiable factors, including smoking, heavy alcohol consumption, physical inactivity, low fruit and vegetable intake, high consumption of red and processed meat, obesity, diabetes and several other health conditions.

Among the Chinese participants, these factors together were associated with about 84% of the difference in cancer incidence between men and women. Smoking was the largest individual contributor, associated with nearly 52% of the gap, while heavy alcohol consumption accounted for about 15%.

The picture was considerably different in the UK. The same 11 factors accounted for about 26% of the male-female cancer gap. Obesity was the largest individual contributor at about 7.7%, followed by smoking at 6.3% and diabetes at 3.5%.

The researchers said the contrast may partly reflect differences in behavior between men and women in the two populations. In the Chinese cohorts, smoking and heavy drinking were much more common among men, while differences between the sexes were smaller in the UK.

The authors cautioned that the observational study cannot establish that the measured factors directly caused the differences in cancer rates. Risk factors were recorded only at the start of the studies, and the analysis did not include some possible influences such as workplace exposures, air pollution and certain infections.

Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that Alibaba’s AI could detect cancer from CT scans.