CANBERRA, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Women are more likely than men to survive cancer but also face a higher risk of severe side effects from treatment, an Australian-led study has revealed.
Published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, the research led by Australia's Adelaide University identified consistent differences between male and female cancer patients in both survival and treatment toxicity, a university statement said Monday.
Researchers found female patients had a 21 percent lower risk of death than male patients but a 12 percent higher risk of severe toxicities.
These sex-based differences were largely consistent across 12 advanced solid tumor types as well as treatment modalities including chemotherapy, targeted therapies and immunotherapy, suggesting they stem from underlying biological mechanisms, not just drug-specific effects, the researchers said.
The study provides some of the clearest evidence yet that biological sex is a key predictor of outcomes in cancer care, said lead author Natansh Modi.
"Sex is a fundamental biological factor that influences immune function, drug metabolism, body composition and tumor biology," said Modi, lecturer at Adelaide University.
The findings have important implications for how drugs are evaluated and prescribed, strengthening the case for routinely reporting and acting on sex-specific evidence in clinical research, the authors said.
The study analyzed data from more than 20,000 cancer patients across 39 clinical trials supporting U.S. Food and Drug Administration approvals between 2011 and 2021, and spanned advanced solid tumor types including lung, colorectal, melanoma, and breast cancers. ■
