SynthesisJournal of cancer research and clinical oncology2023
Do female and male patients derive similar benefits from approved systemic oncology therapies? A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Journal of cancer research and clinical oncology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Sex-based prognosis in industry-sponsored advanced solid tumor trials: an individual participant data meta-analysis of survival and adverse events.Journal of the National Cancer Institute · 2026Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Outcome differences by sex in oncology clinical trials.Nature communications · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeThe National Institutes of Health's policy for the inclusion of females in clinical research was a pivotal step towards the consideration of sex as a biological variable, which is of particular importance in oncology, given differential incidence and outcomes of cancer between the sexes, and known pharmacodynamic, pharmacokinetic, and immunological differences. Therefore, we aim to investigate if such biological sex-based differences translate to clinically meaningful outcome differences from recently approved systemic oncology therapies.
methodsA systematic review of randomized control trials (RCTs) cited in Food and Drug Administration, European Medicines Agency, and Health Canada approvals was conducted. Chemotherapy, targeted agents, and immunotherapy RCTs reporting sex-based sub-group analyses for overall/progression-free survival (OS/PFS) were considered. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were utilized. Sensitivity analyses for survival endpoints, drug type, and cancer site were conducted.
resultsNinety-nine RCTs were included, representing 62,384 patients (23,574 (38%) female). Pooled OS HRs [95% CIs] were 0.77 [0.72-0.81] and 0.76 [0.72-0.79] for females and males, respectively (P = 0.73), and 0.51 [0.47-0.56] and 0.57 [0.53-0.61] (P = 0.08) for PFS. Sensitivity analyses yielded similar results. No RCTs reported sex-based toxicity or quality-of-life (QOL) data.
conclusionFemale and male patients appear to derive comparable benefits from recently approved systemic oncology therapies. Future RCTs are encouraged to report sex-based toxicity and QOL data.
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