Women falling prey to lung cancer

The recent death of Dana Reeve, actress, singer, mother, and wife of late actor Christopher Reeve "highlights the fact that lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in women in the U.S., claiming 30,000 more lives annually than breast cancer," asserts Regina Vidaver, executive director of Women Against Lung Cancer, Madison, Wis. "It is not unique that she developed lung cancer as a nonsmoker--at least one in five women with lung cancer have never smoked," compared to 13% of men.

In addition, the majority of lung cancer patients under 50 years of age are women, according to Joan Schiller, president of Women Against Lung Cancer and professor of medicine at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

"We don't know why so many more never-smokers with lung cancer are women, nor do we understand why women are more likely to get the disease at a younger age," says Schiller. "Research into sex differences may prove critical to effectively treating this disease."

Lung cancer is the leading cancer killer in this country--with a 15% survival rate after five years.

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COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning