Cancer and therapies: women most at risk of serious side effects

Several scientific researches have shown that women tend to suffer more from side effects due to chemotherapy. Now a new study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by American researchers of the SWOG Cancer Research Network highlights, for women, an increased risk of serious adverse events consequent to immunotherapy and drugs with molecular target (or target therapy) administered to treat a tumor.

Research

The study examined data from 23,296 patients enrolled in 202 clinical trials with different treatments (chemotherapy, targeted drugs, immunotherapy) for different types of cancer. Overall, severe side effects of therapies were 34% more frequent in females. A discrepancy of 49% was observed, in particular, for patients undergoing immunotherapy compared to men. The authors have hypothesized some explanations that may justify the greater “sensitivity” of women: from their way of perceiving and reporting side effects to doctors in the different way that the male and female organisms have to metabolize medicines (moreover, the dose is calculated on the basis of the weight and height of the patients) up to a different administration and adherence to treatments.

Gender medicine

“However, haematological toxicity, which is a target data, was also found mostly in women,” she comments Rossana Berardi, Professor of Medical Oncology at the Polytechnic University of Marche and Director of the Oncology Clinic of Ospedali Riuniti in Ancona -. A further possible role can be played by the intestinal microbiome, which we know to be important in patients receiving immunotherapy, as well as sleep and the hormonal structure associated with it. If the causes remain to be clarified, it is now increasingly documented how gender represents an independent risk factor for anticancer toxicity. The study therefore requires a reflection on the importance of gender medicine – concludes Berardi -. It is evident that today more than ever we must learn to manage in a personalized way not only the oncological disease, but also the person, also taking into account the differences related to the sex they belong to. In this sense, work is also being done in the inter-ministerial sphere (Health and University) to dismiss a National Training Plan for Gender Medicine as soon as possible, so that health professionals can be trained on this issue “.