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Overcoming barriers in cancer care for gender minorities

As the population of gender minorities grows in the setting of rising incidence of cancers globally, health-care professionals and institutions must be prepared to provide inclusive care. Individual-level training as well as institutional-level efforts on gender identity data collection and creation of inclusive clinical spaces could help mitigate health-care disparities.

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Correspondence to David J. Benjamin.

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Competing interests

D.J.B. declares a consulting or advisory role at Astellas, Eisai and Seagen; speakers’ bureau at Merck; and travel and accommodations from Merck. A.R.K. declares stock and other ownership interests from ECOM Medical; a consulting or advisory role from Exelixis, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Pfizer, Novartis, Genentech, Bristol Myers Squibb, EMD Serono, Immunomedics and Gilead Sciences; speakers’ bureau at Janssen, Astellas Medivation, Pfizer, Novartis, Sanofi, Genentech/Roche, Eisai, AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb, Amgen, Exelixis, EMD Serono, Merck, Seattle Genetics/Astellas, Myovant Sciences, Gilead Sciences and AVEO; research funding from Genentech, Exelixis, Janssen, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Bristol Myers Squibb, Eisai, Macrogenics, Astellas Pharma, BeyondSpring Pharmaceuticals, BioClin Therapeutics, Clovis Oncology, Bavarian Nordic, Seattle Genetics, Immunomedics and Epizyme; and travel, accommodations and/or expenses from Genentech, Prometheus, Astellas Medivation, Janssen, Eisai, Bayer, Pfizer, Novartis, Exelixis and AstraZeneca. O.Y. declares no competing interests.

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Related links

More Inclusive Healthcare: https://moreinclusivehealthcare.com/

National LGBTQIA + Health Education Center: https://www.lgbtqiahealtheducation.org/resources/in/transgender-health/

Pew Research Center: https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/06/07/about-5-of-young-adults-in-the-u-s-say-their-gender-is-different-from-their-sex-assigned-at-birth/

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Benjamin, D.J., Yazdanpanah, O. & Rezazadeh Kalebasty, A. Overcoming barriers in cancer care for gender minorities. Nat Rev Urol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41585-024-00894-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41585-024-00894-8

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