Researchers have found that female pa tients with oesophagus and stomach cancer are likely to survive longer than male patients, but experience more nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea during therapy.
The findings of a latest UK study could potentially help in managing patients and also highlight who are more at risk against specific side effects.
“We tend to use a standard treatment approach for managing oesophageal and stomach cancers. What this research suggests is that there are significant differences between male and female patients not only in how they react to chemotherapy but also how long they survive following treatment for their cancer” said study lead author Avani Athauda from Royal Marsden Hospital in Britain.
“For female patients, it may be worthwhile providing additional awareness and counselling for gastrointestinal side effects when prescribing chemotherapy,” Athauda said.
For the study, the researchers conducted an analysis on data taken from four previously published large randomised trials conducted in the UK. (IANS)
