Some types of cancer more commonly diagnosed in rich people

It is known that people with a low income don’t stay healthy as long as people with more money. But some forms of cancer are diagnosed more often in people with a higher socio-economic status, writes the Integrated Cancer Center of the Netherlands (IKNL).

People with a low income, on average, live seven years shorter, and their health deteriorates 22 years earlier. IKNL calls for policies that reduce these differences in a new publication.

Wealthy people are more likely to be diagnosed with skin, breast, prostate, and testicular cancer. Brain tumors are also found more often in more affluent men. Those who are less well off are generally more likely to develop lung cancer, liver cancer, stomach cancer, head and neck cancer, and primary tumor unknown (PTO).

Skin tumors are twice as common in people with high incomes. Liver cancer is three times more common in people with low incomes, even though people with higher incomes tend to drink alcohol more often, which negatively impacts this organ in particular. Alcohol may also play a role in breast cancer. You increase your risk of skin cancer if you spend a lot of time in the sun. However, it is rarely possible to say exactly what causes someone to develop cancer.

Socio-economic status does not make much of a difference to the stage in which cancer got diagnosed, IKNL noticed. However, cancer in richer people is often caught earlier when it comes to cancer types that are also detected through population screening (colon cancer, breast cancer, cervical cancer). They participate in screening programs more often. They are also more likely to get the HPV vaccine (the injection against the virus that can cause cervical cancer, cancer of the mouth and throat, vagina, labia, anus, and penis). The higher prostate cancer rates among rich people may also be related to more frequent testing.

People with a lower income are more likely to smoke and be overweight, which are risk factors for cancer. “As a general practitioner, you notice poorer health every day in people with lower incomes, and this also applies to cancer. With all the problems that these patients experience, healthy living is not always a priority. That may result from a lack of knowledge, but access to healthy food or sports clubs also have financial barriers. Recognizing alarm symptoms of cancer or understanding an invitation for a population screening is not self-evident,” said Utrecht GP Kristel van Asselt.