Abstract
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.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: December 24, 2008
Accepted:
November 7,
2008
Received in revised form:
November 5,
2008
Received:
July 14,
2008
Identification
Copyright
© 2008 Elsevier Ltd. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
