Gender differences in radiotherapy: A critical review

Introduction: Radiotherapy is an effective anticancer agent. Radiosensitivity varies between individuals. While disparities in radiosensitivity between sex have been well documented, most radiotherapy guidelines and clinical trials do not take into account this important sex/gender factor. Materials and methods: Key references were derived from a PubMed query. Hand searching and clinicaltrials.gov were also used. Results: This paper contains a narrative report and a critical discussion of the current evidence regarding the interplay between gender and radiotherapy in terms of both treatment tolerance and efficacy. Conclusions: Personalized treatment approaches and gender-aware clinical trials are essential to optimize patient care and achieve equitable outcomes.