DETROIT (WWJ) – New research finds higher cancer death rates in men than among women.

When it comes to cancer death rates in men – versus – women, research from the National Cancer Institute shows that in cancers of the lip and larynx, for example, men died at least five times more often than women.

At the Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit, Dr. Anthony Shields, a professor of Oncology, says researchers there are looking into other factors as a cause as well. But, it’s not easy.

“These are very difficult studies to do. My colleagues here have worked on these for years … but they’re not easy to interpret. These aren’t what we call randomized control trials. You don’t have people that have been purposely exposed to one or the other. You have to go back and say ‘well, they were exposed to asbestos, but they also smoked.’  And trying to tease-out the relative contributions of these become very difficult,” said Shields.

Shields says that potential environmental issues have to be considered as well.

“The workplace exposures are a problem. I mean, men are exposed to asbestos much in excess of women because they work in shipyards or they work in plumbing and things like that where there’s a fair amount of asbestos. So, that is certainly part of the differences that we see. In the chemical industry, you’ll see many more men than women over the years,” said Shield.

Listen to Pat Sweeting’s interview here: