A US study has found gay men have nearly twice the odds of being diagnosed with cancer than straight men, while lesbian and bisexual women who survive cancer are more likely to have a poorer quality of life than straight women. Researchers collected data from the California Health Interview Survey from 2001, 2003 and 2005 from 7,252 women and 3,690 men who were diagnosed with cancer as adults. Researchers found that gay men are 1.9 times more likely than straight men to report having had cancer. Researchers did not find a difference in cancer cases between lesbian and straight women, but did find that lesbian and bisexual women were 2 to 2.3 times more likely to report "fair" or "poor" health after surviving cancer than straight women. There was no difference in self-reported health after cancer among men. Gay men had significantly lower rates of prostate cancer but higher rates of other cancers. Uterine cancer was the most prevalent among lesbians. Bisexual women had cervical cancer rates twice that of other women. Study researcher Ulrike Boehmer of the Boston University School of Public Health has told MSNBC.com the findings do not necessarily mean that being gay, lesbian or bisexual increases risk of cancer. She says access to care, support from others, other diseases and lifestyle are likely factors that could explain the findings. "This information can be used for the development of services for the lesbian, gay, and bisexual population," Boehmer says. She suggests for gay men, programmes may focus on cancer prevention and early detection and in lesbian and bisexual women, services might emphasise improving the well-being of cancer survivors. "Because more lesbian and bisexual women than heterosexual women with cancer report poor health, health professionals may be best advised to carefully evaluate their lesbian and bisexual cancer patients," Boehmer says. "Their evaluation should determine why lesbians and bisexual women perceive their health as poor and provide services or referrals to services that would be helpful for the specific issues the patient identified." The study has been published online in the journal Cancer. Prior to this point, there's been a lack of information about sexual orientation and detection rates.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Wednesday, 11th May 2011 - 10:11am