LGBTQ+ Americans face unique stressors and discrimination, raising cancer risk, ACS says

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- LGBTQ+ individuals in the United States face an increased risk of developing cancer due to unique stressors and discrimination, according to a first-of-its-kind study by the American Cancer Society (ACS).

The study found that members of the LGBTQ+ community are more likely to smoke cigarettes, gain weight and drink heavily, which likely increase cancer risk. For example, bisexual women are more than twice as likely as heterosexual women to smoke (23% versus 10%) and drink heavily (14% versus 6%). The ACS cites "minority stress" as a likely contributor to these behaviors.

LGBTQ+ individuals are also concerned about discrimination due to gender identity or sexual orientation. The study noted that 20% of the LGBTQ+ community live in states where it is legal to refuse care to these individuals because of "conscience clauses" that allow healthcare providers, staff and insurers to deny care and services based on personal or religious beliefs.

"We are very proud of this report," scientist and lead author of the study Tyler Kratzer said. "It is meant to facilitate critical conversations around the need to improve the routine collection of sexual orientation and gender identity data at all levels of healthcare.”

The study found that cancer-causing infections, including HIV, HPV and hepatitis C, are more prevalent in some LGBTQ+ population groups. For example, 70% of HIV infections are due to male-to-male sexual contact (versus 22% to heterosexual contact and 7% to injection drug use). HIV-infected individuals are at a higher risk for at least 10 cancers, the study notes.

Transgender people are less likely to be screened for some cancers. For example, 46% of transgender men are up-to-date on colorectal cancer screening compared to 60% of cisgender men. And 68% of transgender men with a cervix are up-to-date on cervical cancer screening compared to 87% of cisgender women.

The study says only 25% of medical students are confident in the healthcare needs of transgender patients while 30% are not comfortable treating this same group of individuals.

Senior scientific director and senior author of the study Rebecca Siegel says that LGBTQ+ individuals experience multiple barriers to high-quality healthcare access, including discrimination and lack of knowledge by providers of their unique medical needs.

“One of the biggest take-aways from our report is that LGBTQ+ people are probably at higher risk for cancer," Siegel said. "Everyone deserves an equal opportunity to prevent and detect cancer early, which is why it’s so important to remove these roadblocks for this population.”