It's about the disease cancer Surprising insight about marriage

April 9, 2026 around 3:45 p.m Clock

Married people probably benefit health-wise from their marriage: According to a new study, they have a lower risk of cancer than unmarried people. This difference is particularly pronounced in cancers that are often triggered by avoidable risk factors, such as those related to smoking, alcohol or infections. This is reported by a team from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in the journal “Cancer Research Communications”.

“The results suggest that population-level social factors such as marital status may serve as important indicators of cancer risk,” explains co-author Paulo Pinheiro from the University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center. The researchers analyzed data sets collected between 2015 and 2022 from more than 100 million people in twelve US states, which include marital status data and patient data on more than four million cancer cases.

According to the study, this led to, among other things:

Surprisingly – contrary to the results of similar studies – it was also possible to analyze that women actually benefited slightly more than men: unmarried women had an 85 percent higher probability of cancer than married or previously married women. For men, this figure was 70 percent.

The difference can presumably be explained by the fact that pregnancy and breastfeeding reduce the risk of cancers occurring in women – such as cervical cancer and sometimes breast cancer – explains researcher Pinheiro when asked. It is more common for unmarried women to have no or fewer children. However, this effect only partially explains the difference and further research is necessary.

The difference was particularly pronounced in two types of cancer: the anal cancer rate among adult men who had never been married was around five times as high as among married men. And women who had never been married had a cervical cancer rate nearly three times higher than those who were married. Both types of cancer can be triggered by HPV infections, among other things, which is why, according to the study, the sex lives of married and unmarried people tend to be different.

Epidemiologist Volker Arndt from the German Cancer Research Center, who was not involved in the study, also suspects the reasons for this lie in sexual behavior – for example due to a higher number of changing sexual partners and anal sex in homosexual men. “Both increase the risk of an HPV infection, which in turn, depending on the portal of entry, increases the risk of cancer in the area of ​​the cervix, anus, penis, vulva/vagina and oropharynx,” says the expert.

Basically, both he and the study authors assume that there are several, very different factors that play a role in the study's findings. Arndt – like the researchers themselves – argues that healthier people may be more successful in finding a partner and thus also in getting married. “Animals also look for partners who are physically fit and healthy and offer potential for offspring.” Those who chain smoke and drink a lot have a harder time finding a partner. “There is a kind of selection.” In general, Arndt considers the results of the study to be transferable to other Western countries.

The University of Miami research team emphasizes that the findings do not mean that you have to get married to reduce your risk of cancer. In addition, the significance of the study is limited by the fact that unmarried people in long-term relationships were not taken into account. However, the experts recommend that single people pay attention to risk factors and have regular check-ups.

Sources used: Larissa Schwedes, dpa