2023-06-21 21:48:52
It has long been known that men develop some types of cancer more than women, and it was assumed that the cause was smoking and more meat consumption, but two new studies refute the disease’s link to sex.
The two studies, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, concluded that genetics may explain more than sex the cause of cancer, according to a report from the journalUs today“.
Males usually have one Y chromosome and one X chromosome, while females have two X chromosomes. But with age, some male cells can lose a Y chromosome, which increases the risk of cancer.
With fewer Y chromosomes in their blood cells, men are more likely to develop heart disease, neurological conditions, and cancer.
The two studies showed that decreasing the Y chromosome leads to the spread of cancer and weakens the immune system’s ability to recognize and attack tumors.
Because of this, mutated colorectal cancer, for example, is more dangerous for males than for women.
Bladder cancer is more dangerous in women in general, but when a man develops bladder cancer with a diminished Y chromosome, the cancer is just as bad in women, said Theodorescu, who directs the Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles.
David Page, a biologist at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US, welcomed the researchers’ shift to more interest in the role of the chromosome in cancer.
He has dedicated his career to exploring the ways in which the Y chromosome affects human health, telling the newspaper that “this is a big and important change” in scientific research on cancer.
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