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Sex differences in bladder cancer: emerging data and call to action

Nature Reviews Urology volume 19, pages 447–449 (2022)Cite this article

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Incidence and mortality disparities between males and females exist in many diseases including bladder cancer, but the mechanisms remain unclear. To adequately address this issue, researchers must design experiments appropriately, appreciate that sex and gender are not synonymous concepts and understand that the role of both sex and gender in disease need to be elucidated.

Interest in understanding the role of sex and gender differences in cancer incidence, prevalence and severity is growing. To promote communication and collaboration of this issue in bladder cancer, Cedars-Sinai organized the first national symposium on this topic in February 2022. A panel of experts (Table 1) spoke on research spanning molecular biology to social determinants of health, epidemiological data to electronic health records, and preclinical to clinical studies that all pointed to a clear conclusion — sex and gender as biological variables deserve a permanent seat at the table of future research efforts in bladder cancer.

Table 1 Expert speakers at the Cedars-Sinai Gender Medicine Symposium
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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Dan Theodorescu & Xue Li

  2. Department of Surgery, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Dan Theodorescu

  3. Pelotonia Institute for Immuno-Oncology, The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center–The James, Columbus, OH, USA

    Zihai Li

  4. Department of Medicine and Department of Biomedical Sciences, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Xue Li

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  1. Dan Theodorescu
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  2. Zihai Li
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  3. Xue Li
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Correspondence to Xue Li.

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Competing interests

X.L., D.T. and Z.L. are supported by NIH grants. Z.L. sits on the scientific advisory boards for Alphamab, Henlius, Ikonisys, Heat Biologics and HanchorBio.

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Theodorescu, D., Li, Z. & Li, X. Sex differences in bladder cancer: emerging data and call to action. Nat Rev Urol 19, 447–449 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41585-022-00591-4

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