October 13, 2023 – Researchers are calling for increased smoking cessation efforts and lung screenings amongst young and middle-aged women after a latest evaluation shows they're increasingly being diagnosed with lung cancer than men.
The trend has taken place lately. A latest report from researchers on the American Cancer Society shows that not only are women ages 30 to 50 more more likely to develop lung cancer than men, but women ages 50 to 54 are also diagnosed at higher rates in comparison with men of the identical age. The Insights were published on Thursday in JAMA Oncology.
Overall, lung cancer rates in each sexes have continued their overall downward trend over the past 20 years, with declines greater in men than women, the evaluation showed. The study included health data from about half of the US population from 2000 to 2019.
The researchers are surprised at the various declines between the sexes, because women smoke less often than men. According to the CDCIn 2021, 13% of men within the US and 10% of girls smoked.
Lung cancer is the leading explanation for cancer death within the United States. In 2023, there have been roughly 238,000 latest cases of lung cancer and 127,000 deaths within the United States National Cancer Institute Data. About 75% of individuals diagnosed with lung cancer don't live not less than five years past the 12 months of diagnosis.
“These results are very concerning,” lead creator Ahmedin Jemal, DVM, PhD, senior vp for surveillance and health equity science on the American Cancer Society, said in a opinion. “We do not know why lung cancer incidence rates in younger and middle-aged women are now higher than in men, reversing the historical pattern.” The prevalence of cigarette smoking, the leading risk factor for lung cancer within the United States, just isn't the identical amongst younger ladies higher than in younger men, as are other established risk aspects equivalent to occupational exposures.”
People ages 50 to 80 who've smoked the equivalent of a pack of cigarettes per day for 20 years (or two packs every day for 10 years) ought to be screened for lung cancer annually in the event that they still smoke or have smoked inside the last 15 years It took years to quit smoking, in response to federal data Guidelines.