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After a successful treatment of cancer, the return to work process varies for men and women, and the difference is considerable, a recent study suggests.

The study was made by Patricia Marino, Ph.D., of the Institut Paoli-Calmettes in Marseilles, France, and colleagues. It was published in the journal of Clinical Oncology.

In the study, data of 801 employees less than 58 years of age and two years post-cancer diagnosis was taken. The research aimed at looking at the influence of clinical, sociodemographic and occupational conditions to return to work. The results varied between male and female subjects. While married men returned to work earlier than married women, the older men took more time to return to work than older women.

In the case of men, the duration of the leave applied was irrespective of whether or not they would return; while for women, the same was not the case. Medical issues like the routine of chemotherapy, its side-effects, and the stage of cancer delayed the return to work time for both men and women. For those people who spent more time with family and/or had permanent jobs, they took longer to return to work. Although, the higher the educational degree, the earlier the cancer survivors returned to work.

"The results obtained show that the duration of sick leave is sex-specific. A better knowledge of the RTW process would enable physicians to identify patients with intervention needs more accurately, thus helping the national implementation of more cost effective strategies for managing cancer survivors' RTW," the authors were quoted as saying in Medicalxpress.