Advances in sex disparities for cancer immunotherapy: unveiling the dilemma of Yin and Yang

Abstract

A wide sex disparity has been demonstrated in cancer incidence, tumor aggressiveness, prognosis, and treatment response of different types of cancer. The sex specificity of cancer appears to be a relevant issue in managing the disease, and studies investigating the role of sex and gender are becoming extremely urgent. Immunotherapy plays a leading role in cancer treatment, offering a new perspective on advanced malignancies. Gender has not been considered in standard cancer treatment, suggesting increasing the recognition of sex differences in cancer research and clinical management. This paper provides an overview of sex and gender disparities in cancer immunotherapy efficacy, anti-cancer immune response, predictive biomarkers, and so on. We focus on the molecular differences between male and female patients across a broad range of cancer types to arouse the attention and practice of clinicians and researchers in a sex perspective of new cancer treatment strategies.