Lung Cancer Deaths Diverge for Men and Women
Reuters & HealthNews.com, 5/27/09
According to new cancer mortality data, lung cancer deaths are declining among men, but are still rising among women.
In its annual report, "Cancer Facts and Figures 2009", the American Cancer Society projects that 219,440 people will get a lung cancer diagnosis in 2009 and 159,390 will die from it. Since 1990, lung cancer deaths have declined among men, but death rates for women with lung cancer continue to rise. As a result, experts believe that lung cancer could account for 26% of cancer deaths among women this year.
We haven't seen a decrease here yet, but cigarette smoking in women peaked about 20 years later than it did in men," said lead research Ahmedin Jemal. "We're going to see a reduction in lung cancer death rates, although I don't know when it might be. In particular, we will see a reduction in cancer death rates among women that's going to drive (down) the overall cancer death rate."
Overall, cancer deaths declined by 19 percent among men and 11 percent among women since 1990, with the lower decrease in women largely attributable to smoking-related cancers. According to the report's authors, the overall decrease in cancer deaths represents 650,000 lives saved during the 15 years studied.
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