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Review
. 2020 Mar:147:102881.
doi: 10.1016/j.critrevonc.2020.102881. Epub 2020 Jan 23.

Gender-dependent radiotherapy: The next step in personalised medicine?

Affiliations
Review

Gender-dependent radiotherapy: The next step in personalised medicine?

Louis De Courcy et al. Crit Rev Oncol Hematol. 2020 Mar.

Abstract

Individuals do not react to radiation in a homogeneous manner. Recent radiogenomic research has proven that individual polymorphisms can correlate with treatment response most likely due to variation in the ability to recognise and repair DNA breaks. The difference in radiosensitivity between genders has been well documented, yet most radiotherapeutic guidelines are based solely on population averages rather than demographic subgroups such as age, race and gender. This paper is a review of the burgeoning literature available on the differences in efficacy and outcome of radiotherapy between genders. The work examines the effect of radiation on gender both from a tumour control as well as normal tissue toxicity perspective. While the literature reporting such findings is limited, the results show a small but significant difference in response to radiotherapy between sexes. Prospective and retrospective studies for evaluating these gender-specific differences are encouraged as a next step in personalised medicine.

Keywords: Gender; Personalised medicine; Radiotherapy; Sex; Treatment outcome.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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