Study says Gay Men are more at risk for Cancer than Straight Men

I came across the interesting bit of news. A study in Cali-Cal says that we are in a greater risk of cancer than our straight male counterparts.

Check it out:

Few cancer studies investigate how sexual orientation might affect cancer risk and survivorship, often because study participants are not asked about their sexual orientation. In Monday's study, researchers used a large health survey conducted by the state of California - in which respondents were asked about their orientation - to examine the impact cancer may be having on gays and lesbians in the state.

The results show about 8% of gay men had experienced a cancer diagnosis, compared with only about 5% of straight men. Among straight women and lesbians, the cancer prevalence trends were more closely matched.

Researchers speculate the increased cancer prevalence among gay men is associated with HIV status.

"There's a higher prevalence of HIV positive men in the gay population, and we know that being HIV positive is related to cancers, so this might drive the differences we found," said study author Ulrike Boehmer, an associate professor at Boston University School of Public Health. Anal cancer, lung cancer, testicular cancer and Hodgkin's lymphoma are more prevalent among men who are HIV positive, Boehmer said.

The study found gay men were also more likely to get cancer at a younger age than straight men – almost 10 years sooner – at the age of 41, on average.

I hope there more research on this information. It's a hard pill to swallow.

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