Print“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.”
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 study, published online in the journal Cancer, examined 661 prospective clinical studies with more than 1 million total participants. The researchers looked specifically at studies of cancer types that were not gender specific, including colon cancer, oral cancers, lung cancer, brain tumors, and lymphomas.
“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,” says study author Reshma Jagsi, assistant professor of radiation oncology at the U-M Medical School. “We're seeing it across the board in all cancer types. 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.”
The National Institutes of Health's Revitalization Act of 1993 explicitly calls out the importance of including women in clinical research, noting that clinical trials should enroll adequate numbers of women to allow for subgroup analysis. 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, we’re excluding them,” Jagsi says.
Other studies have identified barriers to clinical trial participation including a lack of information, fear and a perception of interfering with personal responsibilities, such as child care. Jagsi says that participating in studies can be time intensive and women today are often stretched trying to balance their family and work responsibilites, as well as their cancer care. One thing researchers should consider, she says, is providing compensation to help with transportation or child care expenses.
June 12, 2009
http://www.burrillreport.com/article-sins_of_omission.html
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