Late-stage cancer diagnosis more common in men, study finds

Men were more likely than women to receive a late-stage cancer diagnosis at 16 cancer sites between 2015 and 2022, according to a study published July 1 in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

Researchers from the National Cancer Institute examined 2,401,772 cancer cases from 2015 through 2022 using the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results database. The analysis looked for any association between sex and stage of disease at diagnosis across 30 nonreproductive solid cancer types.

The study defined stage at diagnosis as localized, regional or distant, with regional and distant cancers grouped as late-stage.

Men were significantly more likely than women to be diagnosed at a regional stage for 16 of the 30 cancer sites. The largest differences were seen in tongue, salivary gland, oropharyngeal, thyroid and stomach cancers.

Men were also significantly more likely than women to be diagnosed at a distant stage for 17 of the 30 cancer sites. The largest differences in that category were observed for melanoma, tongue, thyroid, salivary gland and stomach cancers.

The study also found several sites where men were less likely than women to be diagnosed at later stages. Compared with women, men were less likely to receive a regional-stage diagnosis for laryngeal and bladder cancers. Men were also less likely to be diagnosed at a distant stage for bladder, anal and liver cancers.

Beth Maclin, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow at the NCI and the study’s lead author, said in a July 6 news release from the American Association for Cancer Research that there are several possible explanations for the differences. She pointed to screening uptake for cancers that can be detected through screening, differences in healthcare-seeking behaviors and the possibility that clinicians perceive cancer symptoms differently in males and females. The source did not report which explanation, if any, was most important.

The study did not provide a single conclusion for all cancer types, but it suggests sex-based differences in stage at diagnosis were common across the cancers reviewed.