'Feminist approach' to cancer could save 800,000 women's lives a year

Health experts are calling for a "feminist approach" to cancer to eliminate inequalities as research revealed 800,000 women worldwide are dying needlessly every year because they are denied optimal care.

- Andrew Gregory

Cancer is one of the biggest killers of women and ranks in their top three causes of premature deaths in almost every country on every continent. But gender inequality and discrimination are reducing women's opportunities to avoid cancer risks and impeding their ability to get a timely diagnosis and quality care, according to a report published in the Lancet.

The largest report of its kind, which studied women and cancer in 185 countries, found unequal power dynamics globally were having "resounding negative impacts" on how women experienced cancer prevention and treatment.

There was particular focus on "women's cancers" - including breast and cervical - despite lung and colorectal cancer being among the top three causes of deaths from the disease, researchers said.

Gender inequalities are also hindering women's professional advancement as leaders in cancer research, practice and policymaking, which in turn perpetuates the lack of female-centred cancer prevention and care, the report adds.

The Lancet commission brought together a multidisciplinary team from around the globe. It included experts in gender studies, human rights, law, economics, social sciences, and cancer epidemiology, prevention and treatment, as well as patient advocates, to analyse how women experience cancer. It is calling for a new feminist agenda for cancer care to eliminate gender inequality.

"The impact of a patriarchal society on women's experiences of cancer has gone largely unrecognised," said Dr Ophira Ginsburg, a senior adviser for clinical research at the US National Cancer Institute's Center for Global Health and a co-chair of the commission.