TY  -  JOUR
AU  -  Özdemir, Berna C
AU  -  Wagner, Anna Dorothea
T1  -  Consideration of sex and gender aspects in oncology: rationale, current status, and perspectives
PY  -  2022
Y1  -  2022-01-01
DO  -  10.1723/3769.37567
JO  -  The Italian Journal of Gender-Specific Medicine
JA  -  Ital J Gender-Specific Med
VL  -  8
IS  -  1
SP  -  55
EP  -  58
PB  -  Il Pensiero Scientifico Editore
SN  -  2612-3487
Y2  -  2026/04/30
UR  -  http://dx.doi.org/10.1723/3769.37567
N2  -  Summary. Although an individual’s sex is one of the most important factors influencing cancer risk and response to treatment, it is usually not considered in decision making in oncology. The concept of a sexual dimorphism of cancer, referring to differences in tumor biology between non-sex related cancers arising in men and women is supported by increasing evidence in various cancer types.1 Women present in general higher toxicity rates for multiple anticancer drugs. One factor known to affect drug metabolism, and likely to explain – at least in part – the observed sex differences in pharmacokinetics, is fat-free body mass. The fat-free body constitutes about 80% of a man’s total body mass and only 65% of a woman’s total body mass, yet this difference is not taken into account when dosing chemotherapy according to body-surface area. Given its clinical relevance, the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) decided to address this topic and set up a Gender Medicine Task Force. The missions of this task force are to raise awareness of the presence of potential sex differences in biology and treatment outcomes of non-sex related cancers and to assess the impact of gender on access, quality of life and long-term consequences of cancer therapies.
ER  -