Opinion
Video
Ava Saidian, MD, on improving female representation in bladder cancer trials
Author(s):
“Women not only tend to present with more aggressive disease, but they also have a higher probability of having what we call variant histology, so non-urothelial carcinoma,” says Ava Saidian, MD.
In this video, Ava Saidian, MD, sheds light on a key barrier to adequate female representation in bladder cancer clinical trials. Saidian is a urologic oncologist and assistant professor of urology at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis, Tennessee.
Video Transcript:
One of the biggest barriers, or things that prevent women from being involved in clinical trial, is that women not only tend to present with more aggressive disease, but they also have a higher probability of having what we call variant histology, so non-urothelial carcinoma. A lot of our clinical trials historically have excluded variant histology and require the patients only have urothelial carcinoma. The good news is I think that's starting to change. A lot of the more recent research protocols do allow variant histology. In fact, there are lots of Task Forces dedicated to studying variant histology alone. So, I'm hoping that that's starting to change as we get more interest in those pathologies that women tend to present with, and especially things like urethral carcinoma, which tends to be more aggressive as well.
This transcript was AI generated and edited by human editors for clarity.
