Cancer is the leading cause of death in humans, accounting for almost 13% of deaths worldwide. Global Health Observatory Biological males (or those assigned male at birth) account for 56% of cancer-related deaths, while biological females (or those assigned female at birth) account for only 44%.
The researchers showed that these differences between biological sexes are not limited to mortality rates but are also evident in cancer development, progression, and treatment. For example, in the United States, women have a higher risk of developing breast and thyroid cancers, while men are more likely to develop prostate, colon, and stomach cancers.
Doctors also found that women tend to have colorectal cancer more often on the right side of the body, while men tend to have colorectal cancer more often on the left side of the body. Doctors want to know how biological sex affects different aspects of cancer so they can develop treatments tailored to a patient’s gender.
A team of scientists from Adityunchanagiri Pharmaceutical University in Karnataka state, India recently reviewed research on the role of biological sex in cancer. They explained that because every cell in the human body is controlled by DNA, gender can influence cancer growth at the genetic, molecular, and hormonal levels. Every patient’s biological sex changes the types of hormones and enzymes they produce, as well as the way their bodies respond to and metabolize carcinogens.
Researchers noted that in the past they had found that men and women have different immune responses to cancer and chemotherapy treatments. Women tend to have stronger immune systems that respond more strongly to cancer than men. The researchers suggested that this discrepancy may explain why fewer women died from cancer.
They also looked at data from doctors treating cancer patients and showed that similar treatments for male and female patients with the same cancer diagnosis resulted in different levels of side effects. For example, female cancer patients experience higher levels of drug-induced toxicity, infection, nausea, and vomiting during treatment than male cancer patients. They found that some anti-cancer treatments can even cause women to develop diabetes.
The researchers concluded that cancer behaves differently in male and female cancer patients. However, despite differences in immune responses and side effects, physicians are still unable to customize immunotherapy treatments for different patients based on their biological sex. They suggested that the typical “one size fits all” approach to cancer treatment could be better tailored to specific cancer patients.
They recommended that drug companies test how new drugs affect male and female cancer patients during clinical trials before the drugs are approved. They suggested that drug companies could use this data to better estimate how much medication male and female patients should take, or for how long. They proposed that treatments tailored to each patient’s biological sex could help doctors treat patients in a more efficient manner with minimal side effects.
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Source: sciworthy.com
