New research from University of Arizona Comprehensive Cancer Center has solved a long-standing medical mystery: why men who lose their Y chromosome in blood cells face dramatically higher cancer death rates. The research, published in Nature , reveals for the first time how this chromosomal loss wipes out the immune system’s ability to fight cancer.

Loss of the Y chromosome, known as LOY, occurs when immune cells in the blood spontaneously lose their Y chromosome over time. While scientists have known for years that men with LOY face increased cancer mortality, the biological mechanism behind this connection remained a puzzle.

“These findings represent a big step forward in our understanding of why men with loss of Y in their blood cells have a higher mortality from cancer,” said Dan

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