Dr Coopey on Institutional and Societal Initiatives to Support Women in Oncology

Suzanne B. Coopey, MD, FACS, surgical oncologist, chairperson, Breast Cancer, AHN Cancer Institute, discusses strategies that can be implemented to support and further advocate for women in the cancer care space.

Women in oncology offer a unique perspective that patients, especially women, with cancer often deeply connect with, Coopey says. Female clinicians can relate to young, working mothers with cancer who are trying to balance their career, family, and the ramifications of their cancer diagnosis, Coopey explains. Clinicians who are women are also very empathetic, and there continues to be a need for them in the cancer care space, Coopey continues. Patients with cancer require a great deal of emotional support and women are good at listening to patients and advocating for their needs, Coopey concludes.

Women should continue to be encouraged to pursue medical and oncologic training, Coopey says. According to a study published in Frontiers in Oncology, women represent approximately 36% of the oncology workforce, but account for just 20% of full professors and one-third of department leaders. Although trends in a positive direction have been observed, the proportion of women who are authors in major oncology journals remains at approximately 20% to 30%. Additionally, women represented approximately 40% of invited speakers at international oncology congresses and one-third of board members of oncologic societies.

Moreover, study authors noted that there was a substantial increase in women’s leadership of clinical trials over time. In 1999, only 17.5% of clinical trials had a female primary investigator; this figure increased to 30.6% in 2019 (5-year interval: 17.5%, 22.1%, 25.6%, 28.9%, 30.6%), equating to an average annual increase of 0.65%. The investigators concluded that although positive trends are present, women as primary investigators remain the minority and significant differences remain between oncology fields, geographical regions, study phases, and funding agencies.