No one is immune to cancer. A disease characterized by uncontrollable cell growth, cancer affects people of all ages, ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds. But what about gender? Does cancer pose a bigger threat to men or women?

According to the National Cancer Institute, the mortality rate from cancer is higher among men than women by a considerable margin. NCI data indicates the cancer mortality rate among men is 189.5 per 100,000 men, while the rate among women is 135.7 per 100,000. In addition, cancer mortality rate is especially high among African American men (227.3 per 100,000) and much lower among Asian/Pacific Islander women (85.6 per 100,000).

Why is the mortality rate so much higher among men?

Cancer Research UK points out that there is no significant biological reason to explain why men die from cancer at such a higher rate than women. That’s left researchers to study and speculate as to the disparity in mortality rates.

One potential reason for the high cancer mortality rate among men is lifestyle. Cancer Research UK points out that men in the United Kingdom are overindulging in unhealthy behaviors more than women. Such behaviors include drinking high amounts of alcohol, gaining weight and living a more sedentary lifestyle. Each of those behaviors has been linked to a higher risk of cancer.

Another lifestyle factor that almost certainly affects cancer mortality rates is smoking. According to Our World in Data, an organization that helps to identify global health issues by sourcing data from specialized institutes, medical researchers, statistical agencies, and government sources, globally around 35 percent of men smoked while just over 6 percent of women smoked in 2019. That disparity is much greater in certain countries. For example, in Indonesia 70 percent of men but only 5 percent of women smoke. The World Health Organization points out that these gaps could decrease in coming years thanks to heightened efforts on the part of tobacco companies to market their products to women. Whether those efforts prove successful or not, the disparity between men and women who smoke is almost certainly an underlying reason for the differences in mortality rates among the genders. That’s because smoking has long been known to be the predominant cause of lung cancer, but it’s also linked to additional cancer types, including cancers of the bladder, kidneys, cervix, liver, and pancreas, among others.

But lifestyle factors are not the only potential culprit behind the disparity in cancer mortality rates among the genders.

Another theory to explain the differences in mortality rates concerns the role of preventive care. A 2012 study published in the Journal of Women’s Health found that preventive care utilization was higher in women than in men. If men are not scheduling routine well visits as often as women, then they’re less likely to be screened for various cancers, many of which are most treatable in their earliest stages.

Like most cancers, the disparity in mortality rates among men and women can be prevented. Men who prioritize preventive care and adopt healthier lifestyles can greatly reduce their risk of dying from cancer, a reduction that could lead to a change in mortality rates across the globe. AC226017

SOCIAL MEDIA TEXT: According to the National Cancer Institute, the mortality rate from cancer is higher among men than women by a considerable margin.