Men with particular cancers generally have worse survival outcomes than women with the same cancers, according to a new study.
The population-based study shows men have a survival disadvantage relative to women for 11 of the 25 cancer types researchers investigated.
Previous research has acknowledged sex as an important factor in the prognosis of some cancers at all ages, but few large-scale studies have investigated sex differences in cancer survival.
Age at diagnosis
The sex differences researchers note in the new study, which appears in Cancer Causes & Control, were generally greatest for people diagnosed at younger ages.
Researchers used cancer registry data for all patients aged 15-99 (240 801 men, 173 773 women) with selected first primary cancers diagnosed in Victoria from 1982-2015. It excluded non-melanoma skin cancer, sex-specific cancers, breast cancer, and cancers notified via autopsy and death certificate only.
The five-year net survival for the 25 cancer types combined was lower for men than women, and the excess rate of death due to cancer was 13 percent higher for men compared with women.
Improved outcomes
“The survival disadvantage for men was significant for 11 cancers: head and neck, esophagus, colon/rectum, pancreas, lung, bone, melanoma, mesothelioma, kidney, thyroid, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma,” the researchers write.
“In contrast, women had poorer prognosis than men for cancers of the bladder, renal pelvis, and ureter. Sex differences in cancer survival have decreased since 1982 for colorectal and pancreatic cancer to the point where they are no longer apparent. In contrast, for lung cancer, the male survival disadvantage is worse today than previously,” according to the study.
Men had worse survival than women for many cancers, particularly at middle age, the study concludes. While the reasons are unexplained, the researchers have some theories, such as differences in screening uptake, stage at diagnosis, co-morbidity prevalence, treatment modalities, and health-related lifestyle behaviors.
More work needs to be done to identify reasons for the disparities so that governments could work to improve male and female survival rates for all cancers, says lead researcher Nina Afshar.
“Identifying and understanding the complex mechanisms behind sex differences in cancer survival will help to establish effective interventions to reduce inequalities and improve cancer outcomes for both men and women,” Afshar says.
The study involved Cancer Council Victoria, the University of Melbourne’s School of Population and Global Health Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Austin Health, and the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services.
Source: University of Melbourne
