Men who come from a family of large size are more protected from cancer compared to women in those family. The role of family size on cancer risk is being discussed in this study. The findings of this study are published in the journal of BMC Cancer. The group of researchers including Professor Frank Rühli found that not only the size of the family nucleus - i.e., parents and children - but also the size of the household including members of the extended family seem to have a protective effect against cancer.
‘The larger the family, the less frequently certain types of cancer occur suggests the study. It also has been found that cancer protective effects in relation to family size are more favored towards men.’
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Correlation between family size and cancer riskThe study suggests that family size, as determined by the number of children born to a mother during her lifetime, and size of the household have a strong negative correlation with the incidence of all cancer types, independent of the person's age. The larger the family, the less frequently certain types of cancer occur, including brain, bladder, lung, stomach, breast, ovarian colorectal and cervical cancers as well as melanoma. The protective effects of family size are stronger for males than for females.
It has been known before that female-specific cancer such as breast or ovarian cancer depend on the number of pregnancies - the more pregnancies a woman has had, the less likely she is to develop cancer. Surprisingly, this new study shows the protective effects of family size on cancer incidence were even greater among men than among women, and a large number of non-reproduction-related cancers are involved.
Protective aspects of family life
The fact that cancer risk among men depends on their partners' fertility and on household size might seem remarkable, but it can be explained. Family life, though it can be stressful in some ways, creates a special emotional environment which can have a positive effect on the overall resistance to diseases - and thus also protects family members from developing cancer.
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Source-Eurekalert