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Why Is Cancer More Common in Men?

harvardmagazine.com

21–30 of 107 posts

Re: Why Is Cancer More Common in Men?

#21
post #9

Because men receive worse medical treatment. Just compare how prostate and breast cancer are promoted. It also corresponds with other statistics like life expectancy, medical expenses, disposable income...

Too bad you didn't read the article! The work the scientists did led to much more interesting breakthroughs that that. I learned several new things (x-inactivation and the "EXITS" exceptions to the phenomenon).

Re: Why Is Cancer More Common in Men?

#23
post #11

... and because men have more cells in their body and so more tickets for the cancer lottery.

If this increased cancer rates, whales should be completely consumed by cancer at a young age. However, there are few cases of whales being found to die of cancer.

One of the theories is that for whales, they are so large their cancer gets cancer and dies before the cancer is large enough to effect them. Or genes prevent them from getting it, etc.

There are a number of ways that whales are different from humans, and there is no reason that the cancer scaling with mass in humans is invalidated by whales.

Re: Why Is Cancer More Common in Men?

#24
post #11

... and because men have more cells in their body and so more tickets for the cancer lottery.

If this increased cancer rates, whales should be completely consumed by cancer at a young age. However, there are few cases of whales being found to die of cancer.

Human men are pretty similar to human women, whales are kind of different. So the number of cells alone is quite a good way to differentiate men and women, not so much humans and whales.

Re: Why Is Cancer More Common in Men?

#25
post #9

Because men receive worse medical treatment. Just compare how prostate and breast cancer are promoted. It also corresponds with other statistics like life expectancy, medical expenses, disposable income...

>Because men receive worse medical treatment. What about an alternative... Men are less likely to seek medical treatment?

As a man myself it is pretty crazy to me how many men will ignore health problems to avoid going to the doctor. I am in the UK so it doesn't even cost me anything.

Yet I have had male colleagues laugh/take the piss out of me for going to the doctor. Yet I think I am the only male in the office who doesn't have some kind of chronic (or close to it) condition at 32. It seems everyone at work has back pain or some other chronic pain because they ignored it when it could have been solved easily. Now some of them need surgery for trapped nerves or slipped discs but don't treat it still! Stupidity IMHO.

The worst I know of is a guy I used to work with lost his testicles because he ignored pain and a lump which was cancer! He is lucky to still be alive.

Re: Why Is Cancer More Common in Men?

#26

Here are a couple of other facts: 1. Autoimmune diseases are more common in women 2. The immune system kills tumor cells

Then Cancer should be more common in women, isn't?

Presumably the same mechanism which makes the immune response more effective against cancers makes autoimmune diseases more common.

Similarly, some influenza strains are particularly deadly to healthy people, though they are killed by their own hyperactive immune response.

Re: Why Is Cancer More Common in Men?

#27
post #11

... and because men have more cells in their body and so more tickets for the cancer lottery.

This was my immediate thinking on reading the title - is it incorrect?

Yes, you are incorrect in the context of this article. You should read it.

Re: Why Is Cancer More Common in Men?

#28

Here are a couple of other facts: 1. Autoimmune diseases are more common in women 2. The immune system kills tumor cells

Then Cancer should be more common in women, isn't?

The implication is womens' immune system is more trigger happy, which would make cancer in women less common.

Re: Why Is Cancer More Common in Men?

#29
post #9

Because men receive worse medical treatment. Just compare how prostate and breast cancer are promoted. It also corresponds with other statistics like life expectancy, medical expenses, disposable income...

>Because men receive worse medical treatment. What about an alternative... Men are less likely to seek medical treatment?

Are you suggesting men don't seek medical treatment therefore it's their fault for getting sick?

Girls often don't want to become programmers, and, as I know it, we don't say "It's their fault". We just raise the issue and everyone is fighting to make them want to become programmers.

It's way past time we apply the same reasoning to men's problems as women's problems. Males not seeking medical treatment could be because they're not aware of it (i.e. not enough funding for male diseases as female preventive programs). Or it could be because males are more suicidal about life, because they get the short end of the stick in pretty much all countries, despite the way it is framed in statistics, and we should equally fight for that. In any case, any statistics which leads to 6-year-shorter life expectancy denotes a very acute problem, for which funding should be given in equal level as for women's equality.

Re: Why Is Cancer More Common in Men?

#30
post #9

Because men receive worse medical treatment. Just compare how prostate and breast cancer are promoted. It also corresponds with other statistics like life expectancy, medical expenses, disposable income...

>Because men receive worse medical treatment. What about an alternative... Men are less likely to seek medical treatment?

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