COLUMBUS, Ohio, April 4 (UPI) -- Genetic differences, not sun exposure, may account for why men are three times more likely to develop skin cancer, a U.S. animal experiment found.
Scientists believed men had more skin cancer because they spend more time outside and were less likely to use sun protection than women, according to Dr. Tatiana Oberyszyn of Ohio State University in Columbus.
However, the study in Cancer Research found after identical exposure to light, male mice had extensive DNA damage in their skin and lower antioxidant levels in their skin than female mice.
In a second experiment, male mice exposed to longer, chronic sun exposure developed tumors earlier and had more tumors than females. The male tumors also tended to be larger and more aggressive than those in females.
The researchers say additional research needs to be done to validate the findings, but the data are compatible with other studies suggesting a potential biological basis for gender difference in the development of cancer and other diseases.
