Marriage, if it's a good one, could help improve the survival rate of patients who suffer from one of the most dreaded diseases today - cancer.

Previous research shows that marriage can positively impact the health and may even extend a person's life. In fact, having a spouse may help a person increase the odds of beating cancer.

A new study by researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have found that unmarried men were 27 percent more likely to die of cancer while women without spouses had 19 percent increased risk of succumbing to their tumors.

Survival Rates Differ Based On Race, Ethnicity And Place Of Birth

The researchers, however, reported that the benefits of being married may also vary by race. In the data from the California Cancer Registry, gathered from nearly 800,000 respondents, white men and women benefited most from being with a plus-one.

People of Hispanic and Asian origin who were born in the United States appeared to see a greater benefit than those who were born abroad.

Better Economic Resources, Social Support

Married people may benefit from having better economic resources and health insurance. They also differ from those who are single in many ways like being engaged in healthy behaviors like eating better diets, performing more physical activities, receiving more aggressive treatments and participating in preventive measures like regular cancer screenings.

The findings of the study, however, don't prove single life causes death from cancer. It is possible that certain factors that results in marriage, like being physically or emotionally healthier than those who have not found their partners, might greatly impact the survival odds of patients, the researchers said.

They added that social support from other sources like family and friends is important for cancer patients who are unmarried.

"While other studies have found similar protective effects associated with being married, ours is the first in a large population-based setting to assess the extent to which economic resources explain these protective effects," said Scarlett Lin Gomez from the Cancer Prevention Institute of California.

"Our study provides evidence for social support as a key driver," she added.

The findings of the study demonstrate that health care professionals including physicians and nurses in charge of treating these patients should assess if there is someone, like a family member or a friend, who could provide help for them to get better.

"Single patients should take advantage of their support networks, even if they do not necessarily have spouses or children to turn to during a cancer diagnosis," co-author María Elena Martínez from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, said.

"This is particularly important for male patients," she added.

The study was published in the journal Cancer.

Photo: John Morton | Flickr