Rising Lung Cancer Rate in Women

By Kara Sibilia

Lung cancer is something that hits close to home with me. My grandfather, a lifelong smoker, died of the disease when I was 12 years old. Though lung cancer is typically thought of as a “man’s disease”, statistics show that the scale is shifting. According to the American Cancer Society, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in women. Annually, it kills more women than breast and ovarian cancers, and nearly all lung cancer deaths are due to smoking. Women tend to be diagnosed, on average, two years earlier than men; recent research shows that women may be more susceptible to tobacco carcinogens than men, so the cancer may develop faster. One positive is that the survival rate of women with lung cancer is higher at all stages of the disease. Lung cancer is something that hits close to home with me. My grandfather, a lifelong smoker, died of the disease when I was 12 years old. Though lung cancer is typically thought of as a “man’s disease”, statistics show that the scale is shifting.

Lung cancer is something that hits close to home with me. My grandfather, a lifelong smoker, died of the disease when I was 12 years old. Though lung cancer is typically thought of as a “man’s disease”, statistics show that the scale is shifting.

According to the American Cancer Society, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in women. Annually, it kills more women than breast and ovarian cancers, and nearly all lung cancer deaths are due to smoking. Women tend to be diagnosed, on average, two years earlier than men; recent research shows that women may be more susceptible to tobacco carcinogens than men, so the cancer may develop faster. One positive is that the survival rate of women with lung cancer is higher at all stages of the disease.

Tobacco use remains the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death in the United States. Since almost all lung cancer deaths are caused by smoking or secondhand smoke, quitting is the best thing you can do for your health, and the health of those around you.

The National Lung Cancer Partnership offers the following tips to quit smoking and reduce your cancer risk:

• If you smoke, get the help you need to quit (state quit lines can be accessed at www.naquitline.org or by calling 1-800-QUIT-NOW).
• Eat a well-balanced diet and exercise. These activities help reduce the risk of all cancers.
• If you smoke now or smoked in the past, or have a family history of lung cancer, consider speaking to your doctor about screening tests that may be available to you. Cancer is most treatable when it is detected early.

The Great American Smokeout
Founded by the American Cancer Society, this nationwide event takes place the third Thursday of November each year to encourage smokers to quit for at least one day, in hopes they will quit forever. For more information, visit http://www.cancer.org/docroot/subsite/greatamericans/Smokeout.asp.

Donate or Volunteer
Even though lung cancer is a leading cancer killer, it lacks the funding and research needed to help beat the disease. Visit the National Lung Cancer Partnership to find out how you can help at, http://www.nationallungcancerpartnership.org/index.cfm?page=you_can....

Sources: cancer.org, nationallungcancerpartnership.org, lungcancer.about.com/od/whatislungcancer/a/womenlungca.htm

Kara Sibilia, mother of one, is a freelance writer based in New Jersey. To contact Kara, please email kara_sibilia@yahoo.com.