Breast and Prostate Cancers higher in military

Some cancer rates higher in military

By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Jul 22, 2009 14:14:01 EDT

A new study shows that while active-duty service members have lower rates of cancer overall than civilians, they have higher rates of breast cancer and double the rates of prostate cancer.

And though that could be attributed in part to early screening efforts, the authors suggested prostate cancer rates have gone up as a result of troop exposure to depleted uranium, while breast cancer rates may have risen because military women are more inclined to use birth control pills and be exposed to industrial chemicals at levels most civilian women avoid.

In the June edition of Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention, lead writer Kangmin Zhu, of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, and colleagues stated that they wanted to find out if regular exercise and good health care, combined with a population that had been screened for major health issues, would yield lower rates of cancer.
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Some cancer rates higher in military