Women Underrepresented in Cancer Studies
Reported June 08, 2009
(Ivanhoe Newswire) — Oncologists may not be providing ideal care for their female patients due to the low number of women enrolling in cancer clinical trials.
A recent analysis of 661 clinical cancer studies including over one million participants shows there are significantly more men participating in cancer trials than women. In addition, sex-specific studies on cancer are including fewer females than the proportion of females with that type of cancer in the population.
The studies revealed on average, women make up 38.8 percent of the patients enrolled in cancer studies.
The government has issued laws regarding an adequate representation of women in clinical trials. However, these laws are only effective for trials funded by the government. Studies funded by the government include an average of 41.3 percent females, as opposed to 36.9 percent from privately funded studies.
Experts say future research is required to understand the gender imbalance.
SOURCE: CANCER, July 15, 2009