Young women are more likely to develop lung cancer than men – and scientists don’t know why.
In the 1980s, men were almost twice as likely to develop the disease than women, due to higher smoking rates and workplace exposure to substances such as asbestos.
But with declines in cigarette consumption and safety regulations, the pattern has reversed, and young and middle-aged people are now diagnosed with the disease at higher rates than men.
Researchers at the American Cancer Society said it was not clear what triggered the change, but it could be related to reduced exposure to risky substances in men.
The above shows cases of lung cancer in men and women, broken down by age group. There is a shift towards women in younger age groups being affected more often
In their research letter published in JAMA Oncology, scientists analyzed data from 22 national cancer registries covering nearly half of the U.S. population.
They analyzed the data by year from 2000 to 2019, the most recent year for which complete data is available.
Overall, they found that lung cancer cases have declined in both men and women over the past two decades.
But the decline has been faster among men: women ages 35 to 54 are now diagnosed with the disease more often than the opposite sex.
Data showed that among women ages 50 to 54, the rate of lung cancer diagnoses fell 20 percent over the course of the study to 38.5 cases per 100,000 person-years.
For comparison: among men in the same age group, the decline was 44 percent to 36.8 per 100,000.
Men were still more likely to be diagnosed with lung cancer than women in the older age groups, although the difference was narrowing.
Among those aged 70 to 74, women were 40 to 20 percent less likely than men to be diagnosed with cancer during the study period.
Researchers led by ACS Vice President Dr. Ahmedin Jemal said: “We have found that the higher incidence of lung cancer in women than men persists not only in those under 50 years of age, but now extends to middle-aged adults as well.” Younger women at high risk of the disease are living to an older age.
“The reasons for this shift are unclear, as the prevalence and intensity of smoking is not higher among younger women compared to men, with the exception of a slightly increased prevalence among those born in the 1960s.”
There is no evidence that cigarette smoke is more toxic to women than men, nor is there evidence of overdiagnosis in women compared to men.
But Dr. Jemal told that the shift could be due in part to a rise in cigarette smoking in the 1990s.
The researchers added: “Occupational exposures, which are more common in men, have declined significantly in recent decades and may have contributed in part to the shift in the burden of disease.”
Lung cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer death in the United States, with 238,000 cases and 127,000 deaths per year.
Lung cancer, as shown above, is one of the most common cancers that cause death in the United States
Broken down by gender, approximately 67,000 men die from lung cancer each year, compared to 59,910 women.
However, the number of deaths from lung cancer has been declining since the 1980s as awareness of the health risks of cigarettes has increased.
According to surveillance results, about 20 percent of adults in the United States smoked in 2005, but in 2021 that number had dropped to 11.5 percent.
In some areas of the United States, such as New York City, smoking has now virtually disappeared.
It’s unclear whether the e-cigarette epidemic will drive up lung cancer rates again.
However, several studies suggest that those who huff on the devices are at higher risk of illness.
In 1980, the rate of lung cancer in men was 52.4 per 100,000 people. For women, however, the rate was 28.4 per 100,000.