On June 14, ECPC held the eighth FACE Workshop which focused on the subject of Men's Health in Europe. During the workshop, EU Health Commissioner John Dalli discussed the report on Men's Health in Europe prepared by the team of experts led by Prof. Alan White from Leeds Metropolitan University. The FACE Workshop took place in the European Parliament in Brussels (room PHS P4B001) from 9.30 to 14.00. See the agenda, the press release before the event and after the event.

The cancer burden hits men harder than women. Among those cancers that should affect both men and women equally, men show 69% higher incidence and 62% higher mortality rates. Male deaths from bladder cancer are three times higher than female deaths, and kidney cancer mortality is twice higher among men than women. These trends largely repeat themselves among children, with boys also exhibiting higher incidence and mortality rates than girls.

We still do not fully understand all the reasons for this. One factor that we do know about is age – men tend to develop these cancers at a younger age than women. They also tend to die on average 3 years younger than women. However, if we translate mortality and incidence figures into age-standardised rate, the imbalance is still evident: 211.3 male deaths and 153.1 female deaths per 100,000 cancer cases in the UK.

There are a number of genetic factors which increase cancer risk. One example is the BRCA2 gene, known for its increased risk of breast cancer, which also increases risk of prostate cancer, stomach cancer and melanoma.

Men are believed to engage in more risky behaviours than women. For example, men are more likely that women to encounter cancer hazards in the workplace; they generally consume more alcohol; and eat more red meat. Many awareness campaigns addressing the importance of diet, for example, are aimed at women more than men. Introducing more awareness campaigns targeting men about lifestyle factors would be one positive measure to address this inequality.

Are men are less likely to discuss their health or seek help for symptoms than women? Currently, more women than men can correctly identify cancer symptoms, but there is no evidence showing that men go to their doctor later than women do.

Some evidence also suggests a more direct link between socio-economic circumstances and cancer incidence/mortality for men than for women. Inequality plays an important role – not only affecting health behaviours but also attitudes to cancer and willingness to seek help for symptoms. Men and women are both more likely to seek medical help when they come from higher income backgrounds.

We need a better understanding of the reasons for the greater impact of cancer among men than women in order to address it. However, researchers do not always ask the right questions. Patients and caregivers need to be more fully involved, helping us to ask the right questions so that we will have the answers we need to make a difference to men’s health.

Further Reading:

Branney, Peter et al, “Commentary: Choosing Health, Choosing Treatment:Patient Choice After Diagnosis of Localised Prostate Cancer”, submitted to Centre of Men’s Health, Leeds Metropolitan University in February 2009.

White AK et al, “Men’s Health and the excess burden of cancer in men,” European Urology Supplements (2010) Available online:

http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/prod_consump/groups/cr_common/@nre/@sta/documents/generalcontent/cr_042572.pdf

White, Alan & Mike Holmes, “Patterns of mortality across 44 countries among men and women aged 15-44 years,” Journal of Men’s Health and Gender vol. 3 no. 2 (June 2006): 139-151

Wilkins, David, Tackling the excess incidence of cancer in men: Proceedings of the expert symposium held at Leeds Metropolitan University on November 16^th 2006 (May 2007)

White, AK, “Men and Cancer In Kirby”, Men’s Health, 3^rd edn., ed. R, Carson, C, White AK, Kirby, M, (London: Informa Healthcare, 2009)