Women Not Equally Represented in Research on Cancers
That are Not Gender Specific
The authors looked at 661 prospective clinical
studies with more than 1 million total participants.
June 8, 2009 - Women are under-represented in
clinical cancer research published in high-impact journals, according to
a new study by researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive
Cancer Center. Taking into account the incidence of particular types of
cancer among women, studies included a smaller proportion of women than
should be expected. The analysis looked specifically at studies of
cancer types that were not gender specific, including colon cancer, oral
cancers, lung cancer, brain tumors and lymphomas.
The authors looked at 661 prospective clinical
studies with more than 1 million total participants. Results of this
study appear online in the journal
Cancerand will be published in the July 15 print issue.
In the vast majority of individual studies we
analyzed, fewer women were enrolled than we would expect given the
proportion of women diagnosed with the type of cancer being studied.
Were seeing it across the board in all cancer types, says study author
Reshma Jagsi, M.D., D.Phil., assistant professor of radiation oncology
at the
U-M Medical School.
Its so important that women are appropriately
represented in research. We know there are biological differences
between the sexes, as well as social and cultural differences. Studies
need to be able to assess whether there are differences in responses to
treatment, for example, between women and men, she adds.
The U-M researchers found that studies reporting
government funding did include higher numbers of women participants, but
the impact was modest 41 percent, compared to 37 percent for studies
not receiving government funding.
Traditionally, researchers were told not to include
people of vulnerable populations in their studies. This group included
women of childbearing age. By protecting them from research, were
excluding them, Jagsi notes.
Previous studies have found some barriers to
clinical trial participation are lack of information, fear and a
perception of interfering with personal responsibilities, such as child
care.
Sometimes participating in research studies can be
time intensive. Women today are often stretched very thin trying to deal
with the balance between domestic responsibilities, their cancer
diagnosis, and often a career as well. They may be particularly likely
to find clinical trials too burdensome. In that case, researchers should
consider providing compensation to help with transportation or child
care expenses, Jagsi says.
Clinical researchers are not purposely trying to
exclude women from their studies. All the more reason they need to
consciously and earnestly revise their recruitment methods to give more
women a chance to volunteer, Ubel says.
Methodology: The researchers looked at all original
clinical cancer research published in five top oncology journals and
three top general medical journals in 2006. The journals included were
the New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal of the American Medical
Association, the Lancet, the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the Journal
of the National Cancer Institute, Lancet Oncology, Clinical Cancer
Research and Cancer.
Articles were analyzed to determine factors
including the number of participants, gender of participants, type of
cancer and funding source.
The percent of women was summarized in two ways:
The overall percent of women from all studies; and the average percent
from each study that were women. The first method gives greater weight
to larger studies, while the second method allows each study to have
equal weight. Womens representation was lower than expected, based on
general population incidence data, according to both analyses.
Background Information
Additional authors: Amy R. Motomura, Sudha Amarnath,
Aleksandra Jankovic, M.S., Nathan Sheets, Peter A. Ubel, M.D.
Funding: University of Michigan Institute for
Research on Women and Gender
June 8, 2009 - Women are under-represented in
clinical cancer research published in high-impact journals, according to
a new study by researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive
Cancer Center. Taking into account the incidence of particular types of
cancer among women, studies included a smaller proportion of women than
should be expected. The analysis looked specifically at studies of
cancer types that were not gender specific, including colon cancer, oral
cancers, lung cancer, brain tumors and lymphomas.
