According to the American Cancer Society, lung cancer is the leading cause of death around the world, but new research has revealed that the cancer doesn't affect genders equally.
A new study published May 24 in the New England Journal of Medicine found that lung cancer mortality rates are much higher for young women than young men in the U.S., with the higher burden confined to whites and Hispanics.
Study researchers from the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute told The Washington Post on May 23 that their findings aren't fully explained by gender differences in smoking behavior. Nevertheless, the study stands as the largest analysis conducted regarding lung cancer in the U.S. and incorporates smoking patterns and tumor characteristics for analysis.
"Overall, they [researchers] found lung cancer rates have fallen for both men and women in that group over the past two decades, but the drops have been steeper for men," according to the Washington Post. "As a result, the historic pattern of higher lung cancer rates among men has flipped, with the rates now higher for the white and Hispanic women. Among those ages, black women's rates remain below those of black men."
All cases of invasive lung cancer in people between the ages of 30 to 54 from 1995 through 2014 in the U.S. were analyzed, according to the researchers. The results confirm why many doctors say they are seeing more female lung cancer patients than ever before, according to the researchers.
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A recent graduate from Dominican University (IL) with a bachelor’s in journalism, Melissa joined TriMed’s Chicago team in 2017 covering all aspects of health imaging. She’s a fan of singing and playing guitar, elephants, a good cup of tea, and her golden retriever Cooper.