It recommended that doctors be educated about the needs of gay patients and that homosexuals be informed about their health risks. According to a study presented at a 1998 meeting of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association and published in the Medical Tribune , lesbian women may be at higher risk of developing breast cancer than heterosexual women. A large part of this potentially increased risk comes from the fact that only 37 percent of lesbian women report ever having been pregnant, compared with 83 percent of heterosexual women. Studies have shown that breast cancer is more likely to develop in women who have never been pregnant than in those who have, possibly because of a cancer preventive effect from hormones released during pregnancy. Along with being less likely to have been pregnant, other studies have shown that lesbians in general may be slightly heavier than heterosexual women.
Heavier women have a higher risk of developing breast cancer after menopause.
While breast cancer is probably the most researched topic in lesbian health, gay women are also at increased risk for cervical and other cancers, primarily because they are simply not screened as often. A Pap test detects HPV and cell changes in the cervix that can develop into cancer. Pap tests are important because early detection of HPV allows for treatment that can prevent cancer from developing. The risk of cervical cancer drops dramatically with regular screening. However, in a recent national survey, only 54 percent of lesbian and bisexual women had been given a Pap smear within the past year, and 7.5 percent had never had a Pap smear.