genders should be differentiated in clinical trials

Head of the Department of Oncology at the University Hospital of La Paz and Vice President of the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology (SEOM), Javier de Castrodemanded this Monday day ‘Women’s Lung Cancer Day“what lung cancer clinical trials have”differential character» between genders to be able to accurately apply the results to male and female patients.

As part of International Lung Cancer Day, which is celebrated on November 17, Spanish Association of Lung Cancer Patients (AEACaP) and Health Observatory organized an information meeting in University Hospital of La Paz (Madrid) raise awareness about lung cancer in women, which is already the leading cause of cancer death in women in the West, even surpassing breast cancer.

During his speech, de Castro explained that when studies are carried out on patients for this tumor, there is no difference between men and women, which may affect the treatments that are subsequently used in everyday practice. For example, he indicated that the dose of drugs that is established “For a young woman weighing 50 kilograms cannot be the same as for a 70-year-old man who weighs 95 kilograms.“

This need to distinguish between the sexes when conducting research, about which the specialist emphasized that there is scientific evidence, lies in the differential aspects, both epidemiological and clinical and another type that exists between lung cancer in men and women. In fact, de Castro pointed out that the incidence and mortality of the disease itself have changed in recent years between both sexes, as the curve of these variables has decreased in men and increased in women.

Despite these differences, the oncologist pointed to tobacco as the main external risk factor for lung cancer. In the same vein, he detailed how tobacco industry advertising at the end of the last century began to target women, making them understand that smoking would make them “be freer” or “be happier“, which influenced the increase in the number of smokers and this type of cancer.

Regarding the smoking habit, de Castro also emphasized that it does occur in women.”very early age” due to the influence of content they see on social media about the connection between smoking and weight control. In addition, he noted that it is now known that if a mother smokes, the likelihood that her daughter will do so increases five times.

“This is something we have to start condemning, we’ve been doing it for years, but we also have to start working from the very early stages in schools, in schools, Perhaps we should start introducing this to children. six to eight years, because this is where we have to stop the problem,” the expert said.

In addition, de Castro emphasized that there are cases where non-smoking women have been diagnosed with lung cancer. In this regard, he noted that there are other risk factorssuch as radon exposure, environmental pollution or, in the specific case of women, hormonal factors. “Estrogen or progesterone can cause many types of lung cancer. Unfortunately, it has not been seen that with the help of hormonal control we can solve or stop this problem,” he said.

The oncologist highlighted as positive aspects that the survival rate for lung cancer in women is higher than in men, and they also have better postoperative results and recovery times. However, he stated that “the fundamental problem with lung cancer in women is that it is detected late.”

“There’s still a lot to be done”

In this sense, during the round table “Current and future problems of lung cancer in women”, the head of the department of medical oncology of the University Hospital on October 12 Luis Paz Aresnoted that “there is a lot to be done” in the area of ​​early diagnosis, since, for example, it is known that the presence screening of this disease will help “reduce mortality in a very important way.”

“When we have a clinical problem, we try to figure out how to solve it. Once we get the results from experimental or clinical studies and they tell us how we can help solve them, we need to translate those results into clinical practice to help people, patients, society. This is something that, unfortunately, we have not done in lung cancer screening,” Paz explained.

Pilar Garrido, head of the medical oncology service at the Ramón y Cajal University Hospital, listed three key aspects to guarantee patients access to innovation. First, scientific knowledge that “confirms” that it is a “necessity”; then political commitment, since it is political leaders who develop health policy; and finally the social impulse of female patients and patient associations.