Nov 4, 2005

Women With Lung Cancer Live Longer Than Men

Women probably has a biological advantage over men, and it is a know fact that women live longer than men. This is true even in patients with lung cancer, women with lung cancer are living longer than men, even when the disease is untreated.

A new study presented at 71st annual international scientific assembly of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), found that in patients receiving treatment for lung cancer, women had significantly better survival rates than men. However, in untreated patients, women also had a 21 percent decreased risk of death as compared with men, leading researchers to believe lung cancer in women has a different biologic behavior and natural history than in men.

"In patients with lung cancer receiving treatment, women have shown a better response to therapy, resulting in better survival rates," said Juan Wisnivesky, MD, MPH, FCCP, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY. "Yet, new data suggest that even in untreated patients, women with lung cancer still live longer than men, despite the presence of other medical conditions or gender differences in life expectancy. This suggests that the progression of lung cancer has a biological basis, with the disease being more aggressive in men than women."

Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine reviewed 18,967 cases of stage I and II non-small cell lung cancer diagnosed between 1991 and 1999. These data comes from the analysis of these large number of patients.

"It is clear that gender plays a role in the survival rate of men and women," said W. Michael Alberts, MD, FCCP, President of the American College of Chest Physicians. "Physicians caring for patients with lung cancer should consider the inherent progression of lung cancer among men and women when deciding on a patient's course of treatment."

Scott      Return to Lung Cancer Blog Main

Do You Read All Of Our Cancer Blogs?

Do you read all of the blogs published by medicineworld.org? Many of our bloggers are busy keeping you updated on the various health related topics. We publish the following blogs at this time.

Cancer blog: I manage the cancer blog with lots of help and support form other bloggers. Through this cancer blog my friends and I try to bring stories of hope for patients with cancer. The cancer blog often republishes important blog posts from other cancer related blogs at Medicineworld.org. If you are searching for a blog that covers wide variety of cancer topics, this may be the one for you.

Breast cancer blog: Breast cancer blog is run by Emily and other bloggers and they bring you the latest stories, news and events that are related to breast cancer. Increasing awareness about breast cancer among women and in the general population is the main goal of this breast cancer blog.

Lung cancer blog: Lung cancer blog is managed by Scott with the help of other bloggers. Through this blog Scott and his friends constantly remind the readers about the dangers of smoking. It's a never-ending struggle against this miserable disease with which a social stigma of smoking is associated.

Colon cancer blog: Colon cancer blog is run by Sue and other bloggers. Sue brings a personal touch to the colon cancer blog since her mother died of colon cancer few years ago. She writes about stories, research news and advances in treatment related to colon cancer.

Prostate cancer blog: Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among American men. American Cancer Society estimates that over 230,000 new cases of prostate cancer occur in the United state every year. This important blog about prostate cancer is run by Mark and other bloggers. This blog brings news, stories, and other personal observations related to prostate cancer.

Medicineworld.org publishes a diabetes watch blog and this blog is run by JoAnn other bloggers. This diabetes watch blog brings you the latest in the field of diabetes. This includes personal stories, advances in diagnosis and treatment, and other observations about diabetes. Improving awareness about diabetes is an important mission of this group.

Heart watch blog: About 13 million Americans suffer from coronary artery disease. Coronary artery disease is the leading cause of death in American men and women amounting a staggering 20 percent of all causes of death. The tremendous responsibility of running a heart blog is entrusted to Daniel. He is creating blog posts with the help and support of other bloggers.

Janet      

Lung cancer
We engage a never-ending daily struggle to understand and defeat the hidden mysteries of cancer. This is a long and laborious fight, but some moments stand out as grim reminders of the severity of the problem and ruthlessness of the enemy.