Lung Cancer is a "Contemporary Epidemic in American Women"
Lung cancer is the #1 cancer killer of women.
Women who smoke or used to smoke do not deserve lung cancer. No one does. It accounts for 1 of 4 cancer deaths among women, killing more each year than breast, uterine, and ovarian cancers combined. In the U.S., 17,000 women who had never smoked in their lives die from lung cancer each year. This is over four times the number of cervical cancer deaths. The rate of lung cancer among women has risen 60% since 1990. |
Lung cancer surpassed breast cancer as
the #1 cancer killer of women in 1987. 31,000 more women die each year from lung cancer than from breast cancer. The 5-year survival rate for breast cancer is now 89%. The 5-year survival rate for lung cancer is 15%. Total Research Funding per Breast Cancer Death: $24,000. Total Research Funding per Lung Cancer Death: $1,400 |
Sources
Cancer Facts and Figures 2009, American Cancer Society | Patel JD, Bach PR, Kris MG. Lung cancer in US women: A contemporary epidemic. JAMA. 2004
Nordquist LT, Simon GR, Cantor A, Alberts WM, Bepler G. Improved survival in never-smokers vs current smokers with primary adenocarcinoma of the lung. Chest. 2004 | Thomas L, Doyle LA, Edelman MJ. Lung cancer in women: Emerging differences in epidemiology, biology, and therapy. Chest. 2005
Nordquist LT, Simon GR, Cantor A, Alberts WM, Bepler G. Improved survival in never-smokers vs current smokers with primary adenocarcinoma of the lung. Chest. 2004 | Thomas L, Doyle LA, Edelman MJ. Lung cancer in women: Emerging differences in epidemiology, biology, and therapy. Chest. 2005