WEDNESDAY, March 18, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- Female cancer patients have increased survival but also have a higher risk for serious and adverse side effects from cancer treatment compared with men, according to a study published online Feb. 16 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Rakchha Chhetri, from Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia, and colleagues examined the association between patient sex and overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and grade ≥3 adverse events (AEs) in a pooled individual participant data meta-analysis involving 20,806 participants from 39 phase 2 to 3 trials supporting U.S. Food and Drug Administration approvals of anticancer medicines for advanced solid tumors.
The researchers found that female sex was associated with significantly improved OS and PFS (hazard ratios, 0.79 and 0.84, respectively) in trials across 12 tumor types. However, women also had increased risk for grade ≥3 AEs (hazard ratio, 1.12).
"If women are living longer but experiencing more severe side effects, we need to acknowledge that and respond to it," lead author Natansh D. Modi, Ph.D., from the University of South Australia in Adelaide, said in a statement. "At the same time, we need to better understand why male patients appear to have poorer survival."
Several authors disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.