New report on women's largest cancer challenge: lung cancer

Out of the Shadows: Women and Lung Cancer, a groundbreaking report released today by the Mary Horrigan Connors Center for Women's Health at Brigham and Women's Hospital, a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School, is a call to action on women's largest cancer challenge: lung cancer.

As an organization devoted to women's health advocacy, education and research, the Society for Women's health Research (SWHR) commends the efforts of Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Lung Cancer Alliance for providing the most current and comprehensive report to date on the impact of lung cancer on women.

Out of the Shadows summarizes current research, indicates gaps in knowledge and suggests priority areas for research funding. The consequence of the lack of adequate research and early detection is that although the 5-year survival rate for breast cancer now at 90.1%, cervical cancer at 71.8 % and ovarian cancer at 45.6 %, the 5-year survival for women with lung cancer is still only 18.8%.

SEX DOES MATTER

A growing body of research is showing differences in susceptibility, progression and responsiveness to treatment in lung cancer between women and men. Of the over 200,000 men and women diagnosed with lung cancer each year, nearly 98,000 are women, accounting for 26% of all cancer deaths among women. This number is more than breast, ovarian, and uterine cancer.

"SWHR has worked for many years through its scientific meetings, congressional educational briefings, support for legislation and public education campaigns to bring attention to sex differences in diseases including the impact of lung cancer on women and the unique ways the disease affects women," said Carol Nadelson, MD. Harvard Medical School/Brigham & Women's Hospital and member of SWHR's Board of Directors.

Increasingly, more people who have never smoked are being diagnosed with lung cancer. Of these 25,000 individuals, more than 60% of them are women. Emerging evidence suggests that women may be more sensitive than men to the cancer causing effects of chemicals in cigarettes, are more susceptible to the carcinogens in second hand smoke, and that the female hormone estrogen may elevate a women's risk for lung cancer.

SWHR reaffirms its commitment to collaborating with the national community of health organizations to ensure that women living with or at risk for lung cancer receive the necessary information to understand all aspects of this disease and to continue to encourage funding for basic and clinical research on sex differences that can translate into preventive, diagnostic, and therapeutic care to combat lung cancer.