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Researchers from the University of Miami in Florida, the US, discovered that unmarried individuals faced a higher risk of developing cancer compared to married ones
After examining data from 12 US states and four million cancer cases, the team found a significant correlation between marital status and health outcomes.
Paulo Pinheiro, a cancer epidemiology specialist, noted that social factors like marriage served as important markers for risk at a population level.
Unmarried men were 70% more likely to develop cancer than their married peers, while the figure reached 85% for women
The research, published in Cancer Research Communications, found that the risk was highest for cancers linked to infections, smoking, or alcohol use.
For women, the primary concerns involved reproductive cancers, specifically ovarian and endometrial cancer.
Researcher Frank Penedo clarified that while marriage was associated with earlier diagnosis, the findings did not mean everyone had to rush to get married
Instead, Penedo suggested that unmarried people should pay extra attention to risk factors and stay up to date with their health screenings.
"Marital status may be a powerful and underrecognised social determinant of cancer risk," the researchers concluded in their paper.
Penedo added that the findings provided a clear signal that some individuals were at a greater risk, calling for more research into the subject.
