1. Sex, gender, and retinoblastoma: analysis of 4351 patients from 153 countries.
- Author
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Fabian ID, Khetan V, Stacey AW, Allen Foster, Ademola-Popoola DS, Berry JL, Cassoux N, Chantada GL, Hessissen L, Kaliki S, Kivelä TT, Luna-Fineman S, Munier FL, Reddy MA, Rojanaporn D, Blum S, Sherief ST, Staffieri SE, Theophile T, Waddell K, Ji X, Astbury NJ, Bascaran C, Burton M, Zondervan M, and Bowman R
- Subjects
- Child, Cross-Sectional Studies, Developing Countries, Female, Humans, India epidemiology, Infant, Newborn, Male, Retinal Neoplasms epidemiology, Retinoblastoma epidemiology
- Abstract
Objective: To investigate in a large global sample of patients with retinoblastoma whether sex predilection exists for this childhood eye cancer., Methods: A cross-sectional analysis including 4351 treatment-naive retinoblastoma patients from 153 countries who presented to 278 treatment centers across the world in 2017. The sex ratio (male/female) in the sample was compared to the sex ratio at birth by means of a two-sided proportions test at global level, country economic grouping, continent, and for selected countries., Results: For the entire sample, the mean retinoblastoma sex ratio, 1.20, was higher than the weighted global sex ratio at birth, 1.07 (p < 0.001). Analysis at economic grouping, continent, and country-level demonstrated differences in the sex ratio in the sample compared to the ratio at birth in lower-middle-income countries (n = 1940), 1.23 vs. 1.07 (p = 0.019); Asia (n = 2276), 1.28 vs. 1.06 (p < 0.001); and India (n = 558), 1.52 vs. 1.11 (p = 0.008). Sensitivity analysis, excluding data from India, showed that differences remained significant for the remaining sample (χ
2 = 6.925, corrected p = 0.025) and for Asia (χ2 = 5.084, corrected p = 0.036). Excluding data from Asia, differences for the remaining sample were nonsignificant (χ2 = 2.205, p = 0.14)., Conclusions: No proof of sex predilection in retinoblastoma was found in the present study, which is estimated to include over half of new retinoblastoma patients worldwide in 2017. A high male to female ratio in Asian countries, India in specific, which may have had an impact on global-level analysis, is likely due to gender discrimination in access to care in these countries, rather than a biological difference between sexes., (© 2021. The Author(s).)- Published
- 2022
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