Skip to main content
Log in

Is dosing in oncology gender-sensitive?

  • review
  • Published:
memo - Magazine of European Medical Oncology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Cancer is still the second cause of death in Europe and with the aging of populations, the number of cancer patients will further increase. For Austria, the gender-specific analysis of epidemiology and survival rates of cancer in the past 10 years show that there are significant differences between men and women that could at least partly been used for the implementation of future preventive and/or therapeutic actions. Gender-specific pharmacokinetic differences for medications with narrow therapeutic index as most of the drugs used in cancer therapy have been documented for more than a decade. It would be very helpful to develop instruments allowing individualized treatment planning taking into account the age, function of relevant organs, and gender of the patient than to adhere indefinitely to body surface area.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Malvezzi M, et al. European cancer mortality predictions for the year 2014. Ann Oncol. 2014;25:1650–6.

  2. Bosetti C, et al. Cancer mortality in Europe, 2005–2009, and an overview of trends since 1980. Ann Oncol. 2013;24(10):2657–71.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Austria S. http://www.statistik.at/web_de/statistiken/gesundheit/krebserkrankungen. 2014.

  4. Cook MB, et al. Sex disparities in cancer mortality and survival. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2011;20(8):1629–37.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Gurney H. Dose calculation of anticancer drugs: a review of the current practice and introduction of an alternative. J Clin Oncol. 1996;14(9):2590–611.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Grochow LB, Baraldi C, Noe D. Is dose normalization to weight or body surface area useful in adults? J Natl Cancer Inst. 1990;82(4):323–5.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Sawyer M, Ratain MJ. Body surface area as a determinant of pharmacokinetics and drug dosing. Invest New Drugs. 2001;19(2):171–7.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Du Bois D, Du Bois E. A formula to estimate the approximate surface area if height and weight be known. Arch Intern Med. 1916;17(Chicago):863–71.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Watanabe T, et al. Molecular predictors of survival after adjuvant chemotherapy for colon cancer. N Engl J Med. 2001;344(16):1196–206.

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Deeg HJ, et al. Impact of patient weight on non-relapse mortality after marrow transplantation. Bone Marrow Transpl. 1995;15(3):461–8.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Meibohm B, Beierle I, Derendorf H. How important are gender differences in pharmacokinetics? Clin Pharmacokinet. 2002;41(5):329–42.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Beierle I, Meibohm B, Derendorf H. Gender differences in pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. Int J Clin Pharmacol Ther. 1999;37(11):529–47.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Tanaka E. Gender-related differences in pharmacokinetics and their clinical significance. J Clin Pharm Ther. 1999;24(5):339–46.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Wasan KM, Kwong M. Blood and plasma lipoprotein distribution and gender differences in the plasma pharmacokinetics of lipid-associated annamycin. Pharmacol Toxicol. 1997;80(6):301–7.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Marazziti D, et al. Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of psychotropic drugs: effect of sex. CNS Spectr. 2013;18(3):118–27.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Schmetzer O, Florcken A. Sex differences in the drug therapy for oncologic diseases. Handb Exp Pharmacol. 2012;214:411–42.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Zanger UM, Schwab M. Cytochrome P450 enzymes in drug metabolism: regulation of gene expression, enzyme activities, and impact of genetic variation. Pharmacol Ther. 2013;138(1):103–41.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Koren G, Nordeng H, MacLeod S. Gender differences in drug bioequivalence: time to rethink practices. Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2013;93(3):260–2.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Al-Khatib T, et al. Cisplatinum ototoxicity in children, long-term follow up. Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol. 2010;74(8):913–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Grunberg SM, et al. Long-term administration of mifepristone (RU486): clinical tolerance during extended treatment of meningioma. Cancer Invest. 2006;24(8):727–33.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Plunkett RJ, et al. Hormonal effects on glioblastoma multiforme in the nude rat model. J Neurosurg. 1999;90(6):1072–7.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Yates AJ, et al. Sex- and age-related differences in ceramide dihexosides of primary human brain tumors. Lipids. 1999;34(1):1–4.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Hodi FS, et al. CTLA-4 blockade with ipilimumab induces significant clinical benefit in a female with melanoma metastases to the CNS. Nat Clin Pract Oncol. 2008;5(9):557–61.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Jager U, et al. Rituximab serum concentrations during immuno-chemotherapy of follicular lymphoma correlate with patient gender, bone marrow infiltration and clinical response. Haematologica. 2012;97(9):1431–8.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Cabanillas F, et al. High incidence of non-neutropenic infections induced by rituximab plus fludarabine and associated with hypogammaglobulinemia: a frequently unrecognized and easily treatable complication. Ann Oncol. 2006;17(9):1424–7.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Tarella C, et al. Risk factors for the development of secondary malignancy after high-dose chemotherapy and autograft, with or without rituximab: a 20-year retrospective follow-up study in patients with lymphoma. J Clin Oncol. 2011;29(7):814–24.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Jatoi A, et al. Clinical predictors of severe cetuximab-induced rash: observations from 933 patients enrolled in north central cancer treatment group study N0147. Oncology. 2009;77(2):120–3.

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Kingham TP, Pachter HL. Colonic anastomotic leak: risk factors, diagnosis, and treatment. J Am Coll Surg. 2009;208(2):269–78.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Murdoch D, Sager J. Will targeted therapy hold its promise? An evidence-based review. Curr Opin Oncol. 2008;20(1):104–11.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Lee JP, et al. Gender and ethnic differences in chronic myelogenous leukemia prognosis and treatment response: a single-institution retrospective study. J Hematol Oncol. 2009;2:30.

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. van der Veldt AA, et al. Predictive factors for severe toxicity of sunitinib in unselected patients with advanced renal cell cancer. Br J Cancer. 2008;99(2):259–65.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Rosell R, et al. Screening for epidermal growth factor receptor mutations in lung cancer. N Engl J Med. 2009;361(10):958–67.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Shiba S, et al. Characteristics of 18 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who obtained a complete response after treatment with sorafenib. Hepatol Res. 2014. doi:10.111/hep12297 [Epub ahead of print]

  34. Rapoport BL, et al. Aprepitant for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting associated with a broad range of moderately emetogenic chemotherapies and tumor types: a randomized, double-blind study. Support Care Cancer. 2010;18(4):423–31.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christine Marosi MD.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Marosi, C. Is dosing in oncology gender-sensitive?. memo 8, 5–10 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12254-014-0178-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12254-014-0178-0

Keywords

Navigation