New research indicates when women and men have lung cancer of the same stage and receive the same treatment, women are more likely to survive.Several studies extracting data from national cancer registries have shown that lung cancer survival is different for men and women. This study, published in the journal Chest, is the first to compare the sexes when staging and treatment are identical.
It took seven years to follow 1,085 patients with non-small cell lung cancer -- the most common type of the disease -- and at five years, 60 percent of women were still alive compared with 50 percent of men. Overall, female survival rates were consistently higher for all stages of the disease.
Researchers, who ensured there were no differences between the sexes in terms of race, other diseases, smoking history, lung function, and treatment, are not exactly sure why women fare better. But they speculate that women might respond better to chemotherapy.
What researchers do know for sure, however, is that these findings -- if given a chance -- could help improve the overall five-year survival rate for patients with non-small lung cancer by helping to locate new therapeutic options.
1. I wish more emphasis was placed on small cell lung cancer, especially since it has a genetic link and is so under funded in resarch. my mother died two years ago after being misdiagnosed for over a year and given alleergy medications before being referred to a cardiologist. By the time it was diagnosed with ONE x-ray, it was far too late for anything. We are dedicated to maing this disease front an center in the battle to cure cancer - see our site at cafepress.com/mswdesigns and a Relay for Life site Wings of Hope in memory of our mother.
Posted at 5:42AM on Jan 29th 2007 by Joyce Giancola