TY - JOUR
T1 - The advantage of women in cancer survival
T2 - An analysis of EUROCARE-4 data
AU - EUROCARE Working Group
AU - Micheli, A.
AU - Ciampichini, R.
AU - Oberaigner, W.
AU - Ciccolallo, L.
AU - de Vries, E.
AU - Izarzugaza, I.
AU - Zambon, P.
AU - Gatta, G.
AU - De Angelis, R.
AU - Oberaigner, W.
AU - Hackl, M.
AU - Van Eycken, E.
AU - Verstreken, Martine
AU - Holub, J.
AU - Jurickova, L.
AU - Storm, H. H.
AU - Engholm, G.
AU - Hakulinen, T.
AU - Belot, A.
AU - Hedelin, G.
AU - Velten, M.
AU - Tron, I.
AU - Le Gall, E.
AU - Launoy, G.
AU - Guizard, A. V.
AU - Faivre, J.
AU - Bouvier, A. M.
AU - Carli, P. M.
AU - Maynadie, M.
AU - Danzon, A.
AU - Buemi, A.
AU - Tretarre, B.
AU - Lacour, B.
AU - Desandes, E.
AU - Colonna, M.
AU - Molinie, F.
AU - Bara, S.
AU - Schvartz, C.
AU - Ganry, O.
AU - Grosclaude, P.
AU - Brenner, H.
AU - Kaatsch, P.
AU - Ziegler, H.
AU - Tryggvadottir, L.
AU - Comber, H.
AU - Berrino, F.
AU - Allemani, C.
AU - Baili, P.
AU - Ciampichini, R.
AU - Ciccolallo, L.
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was carried out under the auspices of the European Cancer Health Indicator Project (EUROCHIP-3) and supported by the Compagnia di San Paolo, Torino, Italy. We thank Don Ward for help with the English.
PY - 2009/4/1
Y1 - 2009/4/1
N2 - We analysed 1.6 million population-based EUROCARE-4 cancer cases (26 cancer sites, excluding sex-specific sites, and breast) from 23 countries to investigate the role of sex in cancer survival according to age at diagnosis, site, and European region. For 15 sites (salivary glands, head and neck, oesophagus, stomach, colon and rectum, pancreas, lung, pleura, bone, melanoma of skin, kidney, brain, thyroid, Hodgkin disease and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma) age- and region-adjusted relative survival was significantly higher in women than men. By multivariable analysis, women had significantly lower relative excess risk (RER) of death for the sites listed above plus multiple myeloma. Women significantly had higher RER of death for biliary tract, bladder and leukaemia. For all cancers combined women had a significant 5% lower RER of death. Age at diagnosis was the main determinant of the women's advantage, which, however, decreased with increasing age, becoming negligible in the elderly, suggesting that sex hormone patterns may have a role in women's superior ability to cope with cancer.
AB - We analysed 1.6 million population-based EUROCARE-4 cancer cases (26 cancer sites, excluding sex-specific sites, and breast) from 23 countries to investigate the role of sex in cancer survival according to age at diagnosis, site, and European region. For 15 sites (salivary glands, head and neck, oesophagus, stomach, colon and rectum, pancreas, lung, pleura, bone, melanoma of skin, kidney, brain, thyroid, Hodgkin disease and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma) age- and region-adjusted relative survival was significantly higher in women than men. By multivariable analysis, women had significantly lower relative excess risk (RER) of death for the sites listed above plus multiple myeloma. Women significantly had higher RER of death for biliary tract, bladder and leukaemia. For all cancers combined women had a significant 5% lower RER of death. Age at diagnosis was the main determinant of the women's advantage, which, however, decreased with increasing age, becoming negligible in the elderly, suggesting that sex hormone patterns may have a role in women's superior ability to cope with cancer.
KW - Cancer survival
KW - EUROCARE
KW - Gender differences
KW - Sex hormones
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=62549095873&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ejca.2008.11.008
DO - 10.1016/j.ejca.2008.11.008
M3 - Article
C2 - 19109009
AN - SCOPUS:62549095873
SN - 0959-8049
VL - 45
SP - 1017
EP - 1027
JO - European Journal of Cancer
JF - European Journal of Cancer
IS - 6
ER -
