Cancer treatments have side effects for all patients. But for women more: for them the risk of serious side effects is 34% higher than that measured in men and, in the case of immunotherapy, 49%. A study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, which analyzed data from 23,296 patients with different cancers enrolled in 202 clinical trials conducted over three decades. More than two thirds of the sample had been subjected to chemotherapy, the rest to more innovative treatments, ie immunotherapy or target therapy.
The weight of the gender difference
Serious drug side effects are a crucial issue in oncology, given their impact on quality of life and patient safety. An impact that, in some cases, leads to the interruption of life-saving treatments. For this reason, in defining a treatment path, oncologists are clear about the therapeutic effect of drugs (naturally) but also their toxicity, which changes and is not the same for everyone. And all of them.
Immunotherapy: Men and women respond differently
by TINA SIMONIELLO
The authors of the survey, researchers from Loyola University, the National Cancer Institute and the SWOG Cancer Reserch Network (the oldest and largest US publicly funded clinical cancer research network), have found more than 274,000 side effects in all. At least one was reported by 65% of patients. But in that 65%, men and women were not represented to the same extent: for women, the risk of serious effects associated with treatment was 34% higher than that measured in men. Furthermore, patients undergoing immunotherapy treatments had a 49% higher probability of serious side effects – ranging from pain to nausea, from hypertension to compromised organs, systems, bone marrow and blood. in male patients.
Immunotherapy: Women have twice as many side effects as men
by Tina Simoniello
Gender as a risk factor
“We already knew that women are more affected by the toxicity of chemotherapy than men, but very little research before this had attempted to understand if that model was valid for more innovative treatments such as immunotherapy or target therapy,” said Joseph Unger. of the SWOG Statistics and Data Management Center and first author of the study. But why? How can these great differences be explained? There are no definite answers for now. And there is more than one hypothesis. For example – SWOG reports – men and women may process drugs differently, take them differently, and even report their symptoms differently.
Personalize care based on gender
However, the results of this study “support the idea – said the authors – that gender may be an independent risk factor for side effects”. And they could suggest the development of oncological treatments that take into account gender, or changes in the methods of administering drugs or in the dose: “With a view to personalizing treatments, it may be important to take into account the patient’s gender, even in the case of new treatments such as immunotherapy “.
Image credits: National Cancer Institute via Unplash