Cancer risk may be higher for people with one particular type of job

People who fly for a living could face a higher risk of certain types of cancers , a new Harvard study suggests.

Flight attendants and pilots in the U.S. face the highest risk of radiation-related cancer deaths out of a list of more than 500 occupations, the researchers concluded.

"As you get high up in the atmosphere, you're exposed to ionizing radiation from the sun.

It's called cosmic radiation," study author Anupam B.

Jena, M.D., Ph.D., told Fox News Digital.

CANCER TREATMENT DELAYS SURGE ACROSS US AS DOCTOR WARNS SYSTEM ‘NEEDS FIXING IMMEDIATELY’ The finding was based on analysis of data from the National Vital Statistics System, specifically, nearly 13 million U.S. death certificates between 2020 and 2024.

Out of those records, 14,000 were pilots and 7,000 were flight attendants .

Across all occupations, the team analyzed mortality from radiation-related cancers, including breast cancer , multiple myeloma, leukemia (except chronic lymphocytic leukemia), lymphoma, central nervous system cancers, thyroid cancer, prostate cancer, melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers.

They did not include lung cancer to prevent confounding the results with any smoking-related risk.

CANCER WARNING SIGNS MAY APPEAR IN DNA YEARS BEFORE BLOOD TESTS DETECT TROUBLE Pilots and flight attendants were found to have "statistically significantly" higher mortality rates linked to breast cancer, central nervous system cancers, prostate cancers and melanoma.

Pilots were also more likely to die from leukemia.

Among all flight attendant deaths, 6.9% were linked to radiation-related cancers, as were 6.7% of pilots’ deaths.

This was higher than the rates for any other occupations, the researchers found.

For cancers not related to radiation, the rates were comparable to other occupations.