Sex Bias in Treatment Abandonment of Childhood Cancer in India

To explore the magnitude of sex bias and determinants of treatment abandonment (TA) in childhood cancer in India.

Individual data of children (0–19 y) registered between January 1, 2017 and July 31, 2022, was compiled. TA was defined as defaulting curative intent treatment ≥4 wk. Defaulting treatment irrespective of intent ≥4 wk was defined as Treatment Default (TD). The primary outcome was the proportion of male-to-female children with TA. Secondary outcomes included the proportion of male-to-female children with upfront TA, TA at relapse, TD, TD-p (TD only in the palliative setting). The impact of clinico-demographic factors on TA was analysed using multivariable regression and propensity score matching (PSM).

Three thousand two hundred eighty four patients were analysed. The overall male-to-female ratio (MFR) was 2.08 (95% CI 1.94–2.24). Of 2906 patients treated with curative intent, 415 (14·3%) abandoned treatment. TA was higher in females than males (16·4% vs. 13·3%; p = 0·022) with adjusted MFR of 0·81 (0·66–0·98). The adjusted MFR of TA for treatment-naïve and relapsed patients and TD were 0·73 (0·59–0·91), 1·13 (0·65–1·96) and 0·84 (0·71–1·00) respectively. Sex independently predicted TA on multivariable analysis. However, on PSM analysis including socio-economic variables, lower maternal education predicted higher TA in children with cancer (10·1% vs. 6%, p = 0·015).

Child sex predicted TA in childhood cancer in India with more females abandoning treatment. Maternal education is a more crucial factor predicting TA over child sex, when socio-economic factors were considered. Hence, policies promoting female education and gender equality may mitigate sex-based gaps in childhood cancer care.