The influence of biological sex differences on human health and disease, while being increasingly recognized, has long been underappreciated and underexplored. While humans of all sexes are more alike than different, there is evidence for sex differences in the most basic aspects of human biology and these differences have consequences for the etiology and pathophysiology of many diseases. In a disease like cancer, these consequences manifest in the sex biases in incidence and outcome of many cancer types. The ability to deliver precise, targeted therapies to complex cancer cases is limited by our current understanding of the underlying sex differences. Gaining a better understanding of the implications and interplay of sex differences in diseases like cancer will thus be informative for clinical practice and biological research. Here we review the evidence for a broad array of biological sex differences in humans and discuss how these differences may relate to observed sex differences in various diseases, including many cancers and specifically glioblastoma. We focus on areas of human biology that play vital roles in healthy and disease states, including metabolism, development, hormones, and the immune system, and emphasize that the intersection of sex differences in these areas should not go overlooked. We further propose that mathematical approaches can be useful for exploring the extent to which sex differences affect disease outcomes and accounting for those in the development of therapeutic strategies.

生物性别差异对人类健康和疾病的影响虽然得到越来越多的认可，但长期以来一直未被重视和探索。虽然所有性别的人都比不同的人更相似，但有证据表明人类生物学最基本方面存在性别差异，这些差异对许多疾病的病因学和病理生理学产生影响。在像癌症这样的疾病中，这些后果表现为许多癌症类型的发病率和结果的性别偏见。我们目前对潜在性别差异的理解限制了为复杂的癌症病例提供精确、靶向治疗的能力。因此，更好地了解癌症等疾病中性别差异的影响和相互作用将为临床实践和生物学研究提供信息。在这里，我们回顾了人类广泛的生物学性别差异的证据，并讨论了这些差异如何与观察到的各种疾病的性别差异有关，包括许多癌症，特别是胶质母细胞瘤。我们专注于在健康和疾病状态中发挥重要作用的人类生物学领域，包括新陈代谢、发育、激素和免疫系统，并强调不应忽视这些领域中性别差异的交集。我们进一步提出，数学方法可用于探索性别差异对疾病结果的影响程度，并在制定治疗策略时考虑这些因素。包括许多癌症，特别是胶质母细胞瘤。我们专注于在健康和疾病状态中发挥重要作用的人类生物学领域，包括新陈代谢、发育、激素和免疫系统，并强调不应忽视这些领域中性别差异的交集。我们进一步提出，数学方法可用于探索性别差异对疾病结果的影响程度，并在制定治疗策略时考虑这些因素。包括许多癌症，特别是胶质母细胞瘤。我们专注于在健康和疾病状态中发挥重要作用的人类生物学领域，包括新陈代谢、发育、激素和免疫系统，并强调不应忽视这些领域中性别差异的交集。我们进一步提出，数学方法可用于探索性别差异对疾病结果的影响程度，并在制定治疗策略时考虑这些因素。