Cancer is the number one killer in Hong Kong, accounting for 29.2% of all registered deaths in 2020. According to a study in Cancer, a journal of the American Cancer Society, men have a higher risk of developing cancer than women, possibly due to biological sex differences.
The National Cancer Institute team assessed the difference in cancer risk between 1995 and 2011 for nearly 300,000 participants in the American Institute of Retired Persons (NIH-AARP) Diet and Health Study, 171,274 men and 171,274 women There were 122,826 people aged between 50 and 71.
During this period, there were 17,951 new cancer cases in men and 8,742 in women. The research team collected data on 21 cancer sites. Among them, thyroid cancer and gallbladder cancer are mostly female patients. As for other cancers, the incidence rate of males is 1.3 to 10.8 times higher than that of females.
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The research team also analyzed risk factors for smoking, alcohol consumption, diet, physical activity, and medical history, and found that these risk factors account for only a small fraction of most cancer cases in men, reflecting that gender differences in the incidence of most cancers still exist.
For example, high testosterone levels in men are associated with susceptibility to skin cancer and liver cancer; while women’s immunological responses such as “Th2” in helper T cells can reduce cancer susceptibility and reduce the risk of liver and oropharyngeal cancers.
The findings suggest that biological differences between the sexes, such as physiology, immunity, genetics, etc., play a major role in the susceptibility of men and women to cancer. The realization of precision medicine through clinical translational research is expected to reduce and eliminate gender disparities in cancer.
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Responsible editor: Luo Jiaxin