With an estimated 20 million new cases recorded in 2022, according to a study by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) referenced in an article first published in the American Cancer Society Journal in 2024, cancer still remains one of the major causes of death in the 21st century, affecting both women and men. While the distribution of cancer was
relatively balanced between men and women according to the same study, difficulties in
detecting women-specific cancers such as ovarian cancer, along with a lack of awareness and
the underrepresentation of women in trials, placed women at greater risk.
According to data, the most common cancers in women were breast, pancreatic, colorectal, and gynecological cancers. Combined, these cancers continue to pose a risk to women, with 2025 estimates from the American Cancer Society predicting about 42,170 female deaths from breast cancer alone this year in the US. There is no denying that cancer affects men and women differently, and although researchers and healthcare providers are racing against time to find out the reason, several factors, such as biological and genetic differences, are helping shed light on cancer’s impact on women.