From presentation to paper: gender disparities in oncological research

Gender disparities in scientific publications have been identified in oncological research. Oral presentation of studies at major conferences enhances visibility of the presenter. The share of women presenting at such podia is, however, unknown. We aim to identify gender-based differences in contributions to presentations at two major oncological conferences. Abstracts presented at plenary sessions of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meetings and European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congresses were collected. Trend analyses were used to analyze female contribution over time. The association between presenter’s sex, study outcome (positive/negative) and journal’s impact factors of subsequently published papers was assessed using Chi-square and Mann-Whitney U tests. Of 166 consecutive abstracts presented at ASCO in 2011-2018 (n=34), and ESMO in 2008-2018 (n=132), 21% had female presenters, all originating from Northern America (n=17) or Europe (n=18). The distribution of presenters’ sex was similar over time (P=0.70). Of all 2425 contributing authors to these presented abstracts, 28% were women. The proportion of female abstract authors increased over time (P<0.05), and was significantly higher in abstracts with female (34%) compared with male presenters (26%; P<0.01). Presenter’s sex was not associated with study outcome (P=0.82) or impact factor (P=0.15). In conclusion, there is a clear gender disparity in research presentations at two major oncological conferences, with 28% of authors and 21% of presenters of these studies being female. Lack of visibility of female presenters could impair acknowledgement for their research, opportunities in their academic career, and even hamper heterogeneity in research.