WOMEN AND LUNG-CANCER - WAITING TO EXHALE

Lung cancer is now the leading cause of cancer deaths among women, In the United States, 64,300 women are expected to die of lung cancer in 1996, Smoking is responsible for about 80% of lung cancer cases, Unfor tunately, the prevalence of smoking among women remains unacceptably h igh at about 22% and is expected to surpass the rate in men by the yea r 2000, Smoking rates are highest among young girls and the less educa ted, Whether lung cancer represents a different disease in women than in men is unclear, Data are conflicting regarding the magnitude of the relative risk of developing lung cancer due to smoking between the ge nders, There appears to be a difference in the relative distribution o f lung cancer histologic features between men and women that is not ex plained entirely by differences in smoking patterns, Women who smoke a ppear to be at higher risk of developing small cell lung cancer than s quamous cell lung cancer, whereas men who smoke have a similar risk fo r the two histologic conditions, Furthermore, women smelters are more likely to develop adenocarcinoma of the lung, and estrogens may play a causative role in this phenomenon. Data are unclear regarding whether the outcome of lung cancer treatment differs between genders. Solutio ns to the lung cancer epidemic among US women include (1) prevention o f the disease by reducing smoking rates, (2) improving early detection methods, and (3) exploring new therapeutic strategies.