Malignant skin cancers develop in different areas of the head and neck in men and women. The reason may simply be because men are often the drivers of a car, while women are more often the passengers, according to a study in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology.
Up to 20% of aggressive skin cancers called melanomas occur on the head and neck, which are exposed to greater amounts of ultraviolet radiation than other parts of the body. But few studies have compared gender differences in the distribution of these cancers, the researchers said.
The study analyzed 279 head-and-neck melanomas diagnosed in 121 men and 158 women in their early 70s from the Champagne-Ardenne region of France, between 2004 and 2009. About half of the cancers were invasive, or had spread beyond the initial site.
The data revealed two distinct patterns. In men, 57% of melanomas were located in the peripheral area of the
Read the rest of this article on Wall Street Journal: Skin Cancer Strikes Men Differently
