Are men more at risk to develop cancer than women? Elizabeth Tracey reports

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Men get cancer more often than women, a recent study concludes, along with speculation that genetic or hormonal factors may be the culprit. Not so fast, says Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center director William Nelson.

Nelson: They found thyroid cancer and gallbladder cancers the incidence was somewhat higher in women, the rest of them seemed to have a bias towards men. The strongest bias was towards bladder cancer, stomach cancer,  cancer of the larynx and the throat, esophageal adenocarcinoma. They had a lot of data on risk factors that can explain a lot of cancer like cigarette smoking, diet, exercise, body mass index, physical activity. Are those risk factors differently distributed if you will among men and women and of course they are.  :31

Nelson says the study fails to correct adequately for these factors in reaching their conclusions and so doesn’t support the idea that men are somehow more susceptible to cancer in general. He says there are many examples of cancer that disproportionately impact one sex, but why isn’t fully known. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.