Are males more prone to a certain form of skin cancer than females? Affirming and providing an explanation to it, scientists from the Ohio State University have demonstrated that male mice apparently had lower levels of antioxidants and higher amounts of a cancer risk inflammatory protein which could be the underlying reason behind males being more susceptible to cancers.
An antioxidant namely catalase seemingly prohibited skin cancer by cleaning up hydrogen peroxide and other DNA-damaging reactive-oxygen compounds. The latter are formed during exposure to ultraviolet B light (UVB), which are the primarily the causes of sunburn and cancer-causing skin damage.
Gregory Lesinski, an assistant professor of molecular virology, immunology and medical genetics commented, “The findings suggest that women may have more natural antioxidant protection in the skin than men. As a result, men may be more susceptible to oxidative stress in the skin, which may raise the risk of skin cancer in men compared to women.”
Moreover, a specific inflammatory white blood cell population known as myeloid-derived suppressor cells supposedly transited from the bone marrow to the skin that was exposed to UVB rays. Notably, larger amounts of these cells seemed to shift to the skin of male mice, as compared to the female group.
This process caused the UVB-related inflammatory cells to get added to the genetic constitution of skin cancers. In the research, hairless mice supposedly developed squamous cell carcinoma of the skin when exposed to UVB.
When these mice were administered topical catalase, it appeared to deter the suppressor cells from migrating to the skin exposed to UVB. This implied that invasion of these cells in the skin of males could be due to restricted skin-catalase activity. Presumably, suppressor cells in the skin of male mice inflicted by UVB-induced skin tumors were 55% more, than those observed in female rats.
This research basically unfolded why men could be more susceptible to cancer. It is published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology.