Social Support of Marriage May Improve Cancer Survival

by NICHOLAS BAKALAR

''Several studies have found that being married improves survival in cancer patients. Now a new study suggests that it may largely be the social and emotional support of marriage, rather than any economic advantages, that produces the effect.

Using the California cancer registry, the scientists identified 783,167 cancer patients, and 386,607 deaths. They used health insurance data and neighborhood socioeconomic levels to assess economic resources.

The risk of death among unmarried men was 27 percent higher, and among unmarried women 19 percent higher, than among the married. But even after adjusting for socioeconomic factors, unmarried men still had a 22 percent higher mortality risk and unmarried women a 15 percent higher risk than the married...''