Young Women Become the Main Victims of Lung Cancer: Study
Lung cancer has long been a significant public health challenge in the United States. There has been an overall positive trend in decreasing incidence rates, but more recent demographic data reveal striking changes in lung cancer dynamics, particularly with regard to gender and age.
According to a study led by Dr. Ahmedin Jemal and colleagues at the American Cancer Society, lung cancer incidence rates have declined overall, but trends have emerged that merit attention. Until recently, higher rates of lung cancer were seen in men than women, but this gap has narrowed in certain age groups.
The study, which spans a period from 2000 to 2019, used data from the National Cancer Institute’s SEER program, which covers nearly half of the U.S. population. The results revealed that the decline in incidence rates between 2000-2004 and 2015-2019 was more pronounced among young men. Accordingly, an increase in incidence was observed in women aged 35 to 54 years.
To be more specific, among people aged 50 to 54, incidence rates decreased by 44% in men and 20% in women. This has led to an increase in the ratio of incidence rates between women and men in this age group.
Quitting smoking is the key
This discovery is not completely new. A similar trend had already been observed in a previous study carried out by the same team of researchers. The previous study focused on the period from 1995 to 2014 and also found an increase in lung cancer incidence among women aged 30 to 49 compared to men.
In contrast, women aged 55 and over continued to have lower incidence rates than men, although these differences diminished over time. A concrete example is the group of people aged 70 to 74, where the incidence rate among women increased during the period studied.
The question that arises is why this change in lung cancer incidence is occurring. So far, there is no definitive answer. According to Dr. Jemal, although the majority of lung cancer cases are linked to smoking, there is no significant difference in the prevalence or intensity of smoking between men and women.
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Researchers also looked at the effects of smoking in women compared to men and found that there is no strong evidence supporting the higher carcinogenic effects of smoking in women. In addition, it does not appear that overdiagnosis is a valid explanation for the elevated risk observed in younger women.
Instead, an interesting hypothesis put forward is that the reduction in lung cancer risk after quitting smoking might vary between types of lung cancer. For example, the risk of adenocarcinoma, a subtype of lung cancer more common in women, decreases more slowly than other types of lung cancer after you quit smoking. This could be linked to the fact that many women took longer than men to quit smoking.
To address this problem, it is essential to step up efforts to help young and middle-aged women quit smoking. Dr. Jemal emphasizes the importance of conducting more research to understand why the incidence of lung cancer is higher in these women and how effective interventions can be planned.
