Gender aspects in haematology and oncology: Overview and own observations in lung cancer

Abstract

In this article, different aspects of gender (used here both in the sense of sex, reflecting somatic differences between men and women, and gender, reflecting psychosocial differences) are reviewed. In preclinical research, are there gender aspects taken into consideration, e.g. in cell culture assays or animal models? What about gender aspects in cancer prevention, epidemiology and tumourigenesis, including gender-related susceptibilities towards environmental carcinogens? To offer some results from our own research in this field, original data on gender-related differences of symptoms and comorbidities in lung cancer at initial diagnosis are presented. Of importance, but still widely neglected in the haemato-oncologic literature is the influence of gender on the accessibility to diagnostic procedures and treatment. Gender-specific pharmacodynamic peculiarities and differences in treatment outcome and prognosis of various tumour entities are presented. Since gender aspects are often not put in focus of cancer research, relevant literature on this topic is rather sparse and difficult to search. In this regard, the authors make no claim to provide a comprehensive review.