Lung Cancer
Lung Cancer
Lung cancer is the most deadly cancer taking the lives of more men and women each year than the next four most lethal cancers - colon, breast, prostate and pancreatic cancers - combined. While historically lung cancer mortality has had higher incidence and mortality rates in men, the gap has been closing. Lung cancer overtook breast cancer as the leading cause of cancer death in women in 1987 and now more women die of lung cancer than from breast cancer and all the gynecological cancers combined. An estimated 105,770 women will be diagnosed with lung cancer in 2010, and 71,080 will die.
Lung cancer tends to be a slow developing cancer and many people have no obvious symptoms until the cancer has advanced into late stages. Some may have symptoms that are similar to those of other common illnesses, such as:
• Coughing (most common)
• Shortness of breath (dyspnea)
• Fatigue
• Wheezing
• Pain in the chest, shoulder, upper back, or arm
• Coughing up blood (hemoptysis)
• Repeated pneumonia or bronchitis
• Loss of appetite (anorexia) and weight loss
• General pain
• Hoarseness
• Swelling of face or neck
• Pleural effusion
Only 16% of lung cancer is being diagnosed at an early and curable stage. While smoking is implicated in most lung cancers, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analysis, 60% of new cases are being diagnosed in people who had already quit, often decades ago, and another 18% in people who had never smoked at all. Other risk factors include exposure to radon, asbestos or other environmental factors and a family history of lung cancer. Those at risk should speak with their doctors about the risks and benefits of a CT scan.
Lung cancer may develop differently in men and women. Women who never smoked appear to be at greater risk than men who never smoked; women tend to develop lung cancer younger than men, be diagnosed in earlier stages and likely to live longer men after treatment. Some studies have shown that while the use of hormone replacement therapy (estrogen plus progestin) in postmenopausal women did not increase the incidence of lung cancer, it did increase the number of deaths.
(This information was provided by the Lung Cancer Alliance. To access their site, click here on their name. The Lung Cancer Alliance is an NCWO affiliate.)
Other NCWO affiliate programs and campaigns
National Women's Health Network
National Research Center for Women & Families
Other programs and campaigns
Clinical Trials Matching Services
International Early Lung Cancer Action Program
Ongoing familial studies
Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, Wayne State Univeristy