A recent study suggests that men are much more likely to die from majority of specific types of cancer than women in the United States.

U.S. researchers from National Cancer Institute cancer epidemiology and genetics division used survival data and vital rates for 36 types of cancer to determine whether survival and mortality rates from cancer differ with gender.

The research found that mortality rates from mouth cancer have the largest gender gap with deaths in 5.51 men for every woman. It is followed by laryngeal cancer at 5.37, hypoparyngeal cancer at 4.47 and esophageal cancer at 4.08.

Also, more men than women die from cancers with high overall mortality rates such as lung cancer with 2.31 deaths in men for every woman, as well as colorectal caner with 1.42 deaths in men for every woman.

Meanwhile, the study showed that there are 1.37 men for every woman who dies from pancreatic cancer, 1.75 for leukemia and 2.23 for liver cancer.

According to the researchers, it was not easy to identify what really caused the gap in gender. But, they cited various tumor behaviors, including disparities in the regularity of medical examinations. For example, men in the United States are more likely than women to be diagnosed with cancer at an advanced stage.

Michael B. Cook, researcher at the National Cancer Institute, said the research suggests that frequency of cancer diagnosis is the main factor that drives the larger rates of cancer mortality in men, instead of poorer survival once the disease occurs.

A current study has shown that smokers are at a greater risk of developing throat and stomach cancer. The study also mentioned that smokers who quit years ago are still at risk.

Italian researchers studied 33 different and independent studies and concluded that smokers have twice the likelihood of developing esophageal and stomach cancer than those who never smoked in their lifetime.

Smoking has already been noted to increase the risks of developing throat and stomach cancer for years. Even more disturbing is the fact that the risks remain even after you quit smoking. However, they pointed out that quitting this vice is still highly beneficial.

Both types of cancer are not common in the Western part of the world as they are more prevalent in third-world or developing countries. In the recent years, however, occurrence of these cancers has increased in Europe and the United States.

Studies show that there is only one out of 200 chances that an average American will develop esophageal cancer, and one in 114 chance of having stomach cancer. That means if you are an American who has never smoked in their lifetime.

It is also further noted that these kinds of studies do not prove that smoking can directly cause esophageal and stomach cancer. To prove that, researchers have to intentionally expose their subjects to tobacco smoke and that can be questioned from the ethical stand-point.

However, Dr. Eva Negri, head researcher, insisted that the study still gives smokers one more good reason to quit and those who do not, to never start smoking.

German scientists, who used a bone marrow transplant to treat an HIV-infected patient with leukemia, have affirmed him cured of the virus. This is a surprising statement from the medical field where the word “cure” is hardly mentioned.

The patient had both HIV infection and leukemia when he received a bone marrow transplant in 2007 coming from a donor who had a genetic mutation, which is identified to offer patients natural immunity to the virus.

According to Thomas Schneider of Berlin Charite hospital and his colleagues, the patient is free of the virus almost four years after the transplant. The virus does not show signs that it is hiding in any part of his body.

Their results strongly suggest that the cure of HIV has been attained in the patient as they have written in the journal Blood.

A bone marrow transplant is the last resort for treating cancers such as leukemia. The treatment requires destroying the patient’s bone marrow and transplanting a different bone marrow from a donor with nearly same blood and immune system type. Several months are required to assist the patient’s recovery.

The treatment is not practical and it might kill people according to Dr. Robert Gallo of the University of Maryland. He helped discover the virus that causes AIDS.

Scientists have learned since 1990 that there are some people, often from the Northern European descent, have the genetic mutation and are seldom infected with HIV.

There are already some researchers working on the thought of gene therapy to help or try curing HIV; however the technology is still in experimental stages.