Lung Cancer Different in Women

U.S. researchers have found lung cancer is a different disease in women than it is in men.

The researchers, from Northwestern University, said the female hormone estrogen is partly to blame, BBC News Online reported. Rates of lung cancer in women have increased significantly in recent decades while those for men have remained stable, the researchers said, adding that female smokers have a greater chance of developing lung cancer, and a higher risk of developing adenocarcinoma, which is the most common form of the disease. Numbers of women smoking continue to increase, while rates among men are falling. However, women seem to have better lung cancer survival rates, they said. Between 1990 and 2003, there was a 60 percent increase in lung cancer cases among women in the United States and an estimated 68,500 American women will die from the disease this year. (Source: BBC NEws Online: Comtex: United Press International: MedLine Plus: April 2004)