Research finds men more prone to developing skin cancer London – Arab Today More men are dying from skin cancer than women, despite similar number of both contracting the disease. Accoutring to statistics from Cancer Research UK, malignant cancer –the most serious form of the disease, kills around 1300 men a year compared 900 women.
Early explanations said this may be down to men seeking help later, however experts have found the reason is more biological.
Professor Newton-Bishop from the University of Leeds said, “Research has suggested the difference between the sexes could be in part because men are more likely to be diagnosed when melanoma is at a more advanced stage. Stage for stage, men do less well with this cancer so there\'s something very important that this is telling us about how the body deals it”.
German scientists have identified a gene that makes men more susceptible to melanoma.
Also men more often develop the cancer on their back, which makes it difficult to spot.
Death rates from malignant melanoma have been rising since the 1970s.  Incidents in males are now around five times higher than 30 years ago.