Canadian University Conducts First Nationwide Study of LGBT Cancer Experience

Mary Bryson

Researchers at the University of British Columbia are leading Canada’s first nationwide study of LGBT people’s experience with breast and gynecological cancers and the care they receive.

They plan to spend three years interviewing cancer patients and members of their support networks for the project, called Cancer’s Margins. Mary Bryson, a professor at UBC and director of the Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice, will head up the study.

“We’ve found that these groups don’t have access to cancer health care, or cancer support communities that map onto their own support networks and community values,” she said. Many general practitioners, she added, have little or no knowledge of the cancer risks LGBT people face.

“A transgender man may still be at risk for developing gynecologic cancers,” Bryson pointed out, “but he may not be participating in regular screening because none of the health promotions and awareness material is directed at him and his GP may be unaware of his risk.”

For more information on the study, visit QueerCancer.org.