WEDNESDAY, July 8, 2026 (HealthDay News) — More men die from cancer than women, and a new study suggests one potential reason why.

Men are more likely than women to be diagnosed with advanced cancer that has spread to other parts of the body, researchers report in the July issue of the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

That means their cancer is being detected too late, when it’s tougher to treat and more likely to be fatal, researchers said.

“We know that, overall, males are more likely than females to die from many types of cancer. We also know that cancer stage at diagnosis is a key predictor of cancer survival,” lead researcher Beth Maclin, a postdoctoral fellow at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, said in a news release.

Between 2019 to 2023, there were about 172 cancer deaths for every 100,000 men in America compared with 126 cancer deaths per 100,000 women, researchers said in background notes.

For the study, researchers analyzed 2.4 million cases of cancer tracked by the NCI’s database between 2015 to 2022.

The team looked at cancers that were regional (spread to nearby lymph nodes) or distant (spread to other organs), compared to localized cancers that hadn’t spread beyond their site of origin.

Men were more likely than women to be diagnosed with 16 different regional cancers, including:

Tongue cancer (151% more likely)
Salivary gland cancer (93%)
Mouth and throat cancer (80%)
Thyroid cancer (74%)
Stomach cancer (67%)

Men also were more likely to be diagnosed with 17 different cancers at the distant stage, including:

Tongue cancer (134%)
Thyroid cancer (128%)
Salivary gland cancer (97%)
Stomach cancer (56%)
Melanoma (50%)

Only in a small number of cancer sites were men less likely than women to be diagnosed at later stages, including cancer of the voice box, bladder, anus or liver.

“There are a variety of possible explanations for why we found sex differences among most cancer sites we studied,” Maclin said. “One explanation could be differences in cancer screening uptake for sites that can be detected through screening.

"It is also possible that there are differences in health care-seeking behaviors; existing research shows that women go to the doctor more than men, which could mean more opportunities for clinicians to catch cancer symptoms earlier, thus leading more women to get diagnosed at the localized stage instead of regional or distant stages,” she said.

“There is also the possibility that the way clinicians perceive cancer symptoms in males and females differ, leading to different types of diagnostic tests or treatment plans, which can either hasten or delay cancer diagnosis,” Maclin added.

In any case, getting regular medical care is critical to catching cancer at an earlier, more treatable stage, she said.

“My overall message is that everyone should go to the doctor regularly,” Maclin said. “Don’t delay seeing a doctor if you notice something has changed in your body.”

More information

The National Cancer Institute has more on cancer statistics.

SOURCE: American Association for Cancer Research, news release, July 6, 2026; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, July 1, 2026

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