Survival rates for lung cancer for both genders are among the poorest of all cancer sites.1
The lung cancer epidemic is primarily attributable to cigarette smoking, which is responsible for at least 80% of the disease in women and 90% in men.1
A recent study by Zang and Wynder confirmed earlier findings that the odds ratios for major lung cancer types are consistently higher for women than for men at every level of exposure to cigarette smoke. The gender differences are more pronounced with adenocarcinomas and small cell/oat cell carcinomas than for squamous/epidermoid carcinomas.2
Zang and Wynder conclude that this gender difference cannot be explained by differences in base-line exposure, smoking history, or body size, but is likely due to the higher susceptibility to tobacco carcinogens of women.2
While slightly fewer women than men are currently diagnosed with lung cancer, they do appear to survive slightly longer than men with lung cancer. It is not known what contributes to this, however, it could be that psychosocial support women seek and receive may be a factor with these women as it has been with breast cancer survivors.
The relative five-year survival rate for women diagnosed between 1986 and 1988 was only 15.8% for whites, and 11.7% for African-Americans.1-2
1 Ernster VL, Female lung cancer. Annual Review of Public Health. 1996;17:97-114.
2 Zang E, Wynder E, Differences in lung cancer risk between men and women, J Nat Cancer Inst. 1996;88(3/4): 183-192.
3 SEER Cancer Statistics Review 1973-1996.
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