Raising awareness of how cancer affects transgender people

This week (November 13-19) is Transgender Awareness Week, an annual awareness week dedicated to raising the visibility of transgender, non-binary and gender diverse people, and to highlight the issues that members of the community face.

What is Transgender Awareness Week?

It is a time when transgender, non-binary and gender diverse people, and their supporters, take action to draw attention to the community by educating others, sharing stories and experiences, and advancing advocacy around the issues of prejudice, discrimination, inequality and violence that affect the transgender community.

Transgender health inequalities within cancer care

Transgender, non-binary and gender diverse people are known to experience health inequalities because of their gender identity and are more likely to experience poorer health outcomes compared to the cisgender population.

While there is currently a lack of research, it is known that a number of cancer types have differing risk factors, incidence, screening and treatment considerations within the gender diverse population.

Research has found transgender individuals are less likely to access preventative services, including cervical screening¹ and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing², compared to cisgender individuals.

Furthermore, gender diverse communities experience a higher prevalence of risk factors, including higher levels of smoking, alcohol consumption and overweight/obesity, which are all linked to the development of cancer³.

Additionally, transgender, non-binary and gender diverse people are more likely to experience barriers to accessing healthcare services.

The National LGBT Survey⁴ found 38% of trans people reported a negative experience when accessing general healthcare services because of their gender identity.

Furthermore, 21% of trans respondents said their specific needs were ignored or not taken into account; 18% said they were subject to inappropriate curiosity; and 18% also said they avoided treatment for fear of discrimination or intolerant reactions.

This means prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases such as cancer are less likely, and late diagnosis is more common.

What steps can I take to improve cancer care within the gender diverse population?

A study among UK oncologists found greater awareness of the need for training around the specific needs of LGBTQ+ patients with cancer and subsequent development of educational resources for healthcare providers has the potential to improve treatment outcomes and quality of care for this patient group⁵.

Cheshire & Merseyside Cancer Alliance has developed one-page factsheets to increase awareness of the barriers transgender, non-binary and gender diverse people may face when accessing healthcare services.

The factsheets focus on areas such as personalised care, pronouns and health inequalities and support healthcare professionals in addressing the barriers individuals may face.

Further information can be found here: https://cmcanceralliance.nhs.uk/work/patient-experience-and-health-inequalities

References

1. Pap test use is lower among female-to-male patients than non-transgender women (2014)
2. Prostate Cancer Screening Patterns Among Sexual and Gender Minority Individuals (2020)
3. Hidden Figures: LGBT Health Inequalities in the UK (2020)
4. LGBT Survey (2018)
5. An evaluation of self-perceived knowledge, attitudes and behaviours of UK oncologists about LGBTQ+ patients with cancer (2020)