Disparities in cancer incidence among women by sexual orientation

Cancer risk factors among women are more common among sexual minority populations (e.g., lesbian, bisexual) than their heterosexual peers. Analysis among participants of the prospective Nurses’ Health Study II (1989-2017; n=101,543) found no statistically significant differences in total cancer incidence between sexual minority groups and heterosexual women; the aIRR was 1.17 (95% CI 0.99-1.38) among lesbian women and 0.80 (0.58-1.10) among bisexual women; however, cancer site-specific analyses found incidences at multiple sites were significantly higher among lesbian women compared to heterosexual women: thyroid cancer (1.87; 1.03-3.41), basal cell carcinoma (1.85; 1.09-3.14), and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (2.13; 1.10-4.12). The authors conclude that lesbian women may be disproportionately burdened by some types of cancer relative to their heterosexual peers.