LGBT Youth Face Greater Cancer Risks, CCNY-Led Study

A new study led by City College of New York psychologist Margaret Rosario found that youths of same-sex orientation are more likely to engage in behaviors associated with cancer risk than heterosexuals. The peer-reviewed findings appear in the February 2014 issue of the "American Journal of Public Health."

Titled "Sexual Orientation Disparities in Cancer-Related Risk Behaviors of Tobacco, Alcohol, Sexual Behaviors, and Diet and Physical Activity: Pooled Youth Risk Behavior Surveys," the study pooled YRBS (Youth Risk Behavior Survey) data from 2005 and 2007. The YRBS is a national survey of high school students conducted biennially.

Dr. Rosario, professor of psychology in CCNY's Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership and The Graduate Center, CUNY, and her research team then studied 12 cancer-risk behaviors in sexual minorities (youth with same-sex orientation) and heterosexuals in grades 9 through 12. Of an available sample of 65,871 youth, 7.6 percent were found to be a sexual minority.

The 12 cancer-risk behaviors included tobacco use, drinking alcohol, early sex, multiple sexual partners, higher body mass index (BMI) and lack of exercise.

The report found that for all 12, sexual minorities were more likely than heterosexuals to engage in the risky behavior.

"Sexual minorities are at risk for cancer later in life, I suggest, from a host of behaviors that begin relatively early in life," said Professor Rosario. "No sex or ethnic racial group is at greater risk or protected for these behaviors. Overall, the study underscores the need for early interventions."

The LGBT Community's Disproportionate Cancer Burden We do not know nearly enough about cancer in the LGBT community and we need to. None of the large national cancer registries and surveys of cancer incidence collect data about sexual orientation or gender identity, leaving lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender cancer survivors embedded and invisible among the vast wealth of information these surveys provide to other groups. Other ethnic, geographic, and racial populations are able to use the data gleaned from these statistics to develop prevention and treatment programs dedicated to eroding the health disparities they face; they know precisely how prevalent cancer is in their communities. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people do not.

However, there is reason to believe that LGBT people are carrying a disproportionate cancer burden. There is adequate research to confirm that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people have a unique "cluster of risk factors" that would lead us to have both greater cancer incidence and later stage diagnosis. We estimate that there are over 1 million LGBT cancer survivors in the country today. This disproportionate burden of disease is referred to as "health disparities".

Health disparities in the LGBT community are caused by multiple factors. There are no biological or physiological differences between LGBT people and our heterosexual counterparts. Rather, the disparities are caused by a combination of social/economic factors and behaviors, many of which can be traced to the stress of living as a sexual/gender minority in this country.