TY - JOUR
T1 - Sex disparities matter in cancer development and therapy
AU - Haupt, Sue
AU - Caramia, Franco
AU - Klein, Sabra L.
AU - Rubin, Joshua B.
AU - Haupt, Ygal
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors thank C. Litchfield for undertaking the analyses for Figs 1 and 3 and also for Supplementary Tables 1 and 2. The Haupt laboratory acknowledges funding from the Sister Institution Network Fund (SINF), MD Anderson–Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Peter MacCallum Foundation. S.L.K. was supported in part by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Specialized Center of Research Excellence (U54AG062333) and NIH Center of Excellence in Influenza Research and Surveillance (HHSN272201400007C). Work in the Rubin laboratory is supported by the NIH (R01 CA174737 to J.B.R.), The Children’s Discovery Institute of Washington University, Prayers for Maria Foundation, St Louis Children’s Hospital Foundation, Barnes-Jewish Hospital Foundation, Barnard Research Funds, Joshua’s Great Things Foundation and The American Brain Tumor Association.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, Springer Nature Limited.
PY - 2021/6
Y1 - 2021/6
N2 - Curing cancer through precision medicine is the paramount aim of the new wave of molecular and genomic therapies. Currently, whether patients with non-reproductive cancers are male or female according to their sex chromosomes is not adequately considered in patient standard of care. This is a matter of consequence because there is growing evidence that these cancer types generally initiate earlier and are associated with higher overall incidence and rates of death in males compared with females. Gender, in contrast to sex, refers to a chosen sexual identity. Hazardous lifestyle choices (notably tobacco smoking) differ in prevalence between genders, aligned with disproportionate cancer risk. These add to underlying genetic predisposition and influences of sex steroid hormones. Together, these factors affect metabolism, immunity and inflammation, and ultimately the fidelity of the genetic code. To accurately understand how human defences against cancer erode, it is crucial to establish the influence of sex. Our Perspective highlights evidence from basic and translational research indicating that including genetic sex considerations in treatments for patients with cancer will improve outcomes. It is now time to adopt the challenge of overhauling cancer medicine based on optimized treatment strategies for females and males.
AB - Curing cancer through precision medicine is the paramount aim of the new wave of molecular and genomic therapies. Currently, whether patients with non-reproductive cancers are male or female according to their sex chromosomes is not adequately considered in patient standard of care. This is a matter of consequence because there is growing evidence that these cancer types generally initiate earlier and are associated with higher overall incidence and rates of death in males compared with females. Gender, in contrast to sex, refers to a chosen sexual identity. Hazardous lifestyle choices (notably tobacco smoking) differ in prevalence between genders, aligned with disproportionate cancer risk. These add to underlying genetic predisposition and influences of sex steroid hormones. Together, these factors affect metabolism, immunity and inflammation, and ultimately the fidelity of the genetic code. To accurately understand how human defences against cancer erode, it is crucial to establish the influence of sex. Our Perspective highlights evidence from basic and translational research indicating that including genetic sex considerations in treatments for patients with cancer will improve outcomes. It is now time to adopt the challenge of overhauling cancer medicine based on optimized treatment strategies for females and males.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85105109340&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s41568-021-00348-y
DO - 10.1038/s41568-021-00348-y
M3 - Review article
C2 - 33879867
AN - SCOPUS:85105109340
SN - 1474-175X
VL - 21
SP - 393
EP - 407
JO - Nature Reviews Cancer
JF - Nature Reviews Cancer
IS - 6
ER -