Female smokers may be more likely to develop lung cancer than men who smoke a similar amount. Researchers found that of nearly 2,500 men and women age 40 and older screened for lung cancer, women had more than twice the risk of being diagnosed with the disease. Researchers of New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York included in the study, 1,202 women and 1,288 men who underwent computed tomography (CT) scans to screen for lung cancer. All had smoked for at least 10 "pack-years" i.e. one pack a day for 10 years, or two packs a day for five years. Follow-up testing confirmed 45 cases of lung cancer among women, and 20 among men. After the researchers factored in participants' age and smoking history, women were more than twice as likely as men to be diagnosed with lung cancer. Some past research has suggested female smokers might be more susceptible to developing lung cancer, but other studies have failed to find such evidence. If further research confirms the current findings, it will be especially important for anti-smoking efforts to reach women and girls and it will be particularly important to stop girls and young women from taking up the smoking habit. There is not yet a clear reason why women might face a higher lung cancer risk than men. It is possible, that women are less able than men to metabolise, or "clear," the toxins from tobacco smoke, but more research is needed to answer that question. Other possibilities such as sex differences in the aggressiveness of lung tumours, or underreporting of smoking levels by women do appear to explain the findings.

Lung Cancer,
January 2004