Marriage and cancer have an interesting connection, says 'provocative finding' of US study

At a time when many youngsters are choosing not to marry, the advocates of the institution have a new argument in favour of it. According to a new study by the Miami-based Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Centre, people who have been married seem less likely to develop cancer than those who have never married at all! Interestingly, the large study used health data from around 8 years, from 4 million adults aged 30 and older. The researchers focused on cancers diagnosed after 30, between 2015 and 2022. Apparently, men who never married had 68% higher cancer incidence, and never-married women had 83%, as compared to their married counterparts! 

How was the study conducted?
The study, which was published at the beginning of this month, divided its sample size into two camps: 
1) Those who were or had ever been married, including divorced and widowed people.
2) Those who had never married at all. 
Around one in five adults landed in this never-married group. Apparently, when the researchers compared the numbers, the findings were too striking to ignore. Men who had never married were 68 per cent more likely to develop cancer than men who had married at some point. And it was tougher on women. Those who had never married were about 83 per cent more likely to develop cancer than women who had been married. While traditionally it is said that men benefit more from marriage, this factor favours women more. 

Is the gap the same across all cancers?
No. This is where the story becomes more revealing. For anal cancer in men and cervical cancer in women, two diseases closely linked to infection with the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus (HPV), the differences were enormous. Never-married men had around five times the rate of anal cancer compared with men who had married.

Never-married women had nearly three times the rate of cervical cancer. These are precisely the cancers where preventive tools already exist: HPV vaccination and regular screening to catch pre-cancerous changes early. The study's authors suggest that being married may increase the likelihood that someone is nudged to attend those appointments or to have more stable healthcare and insurance.

Elsewhere, the pattern echoed long-known biological themes. Cancers such as endometrial and ovarian cancer were more common in never-married women, which may reflect lower rates of childbearing, since pregnancy and childbirth alter hormone exposure in ways that can reduce risk, as research my team has undertaken shows.

By contrast, for cancers strongly influenced by organised screening of breast, prostate, and thyroid, the differences by marital status were smaller. Screening levels the playing field, regardless of whether someone has a spouse reminding them about their appointments.

Race also plays a part
Black men who had never married had the highest overall cancer rates in the study, yet married black men actually had lower cancer rates than married white men, hinting that marriage might be especially protective in some groups.

A pattern, not proof
Does this mean marriage itself somehow protects people from cancer? The researchers are careful to say no. Their study shows a pattern, not proof, that marriage is the cause. The real question is whether marriage makes people healthier, or whether healthier, wealthier and better-supported people are simply more likely to get married in the first place. 

People facing serious mental illness, addiction, chronic illness or deep poverty may be less likely to marry, and those same struggles are also linked to a higher risk of cancer. In that sense, marriage may be less a cause than a sign of other advantages that begin long before anyone walks down the aisle.
(With PTI inputs)