Lung Cancer in Women: The Differences in Epidemiology, Biology and Treatment Outcomes

Authors and Disclosures

Maria Patricia Rivera, MD

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 4133 Bioinformatics Building CB# 7020, Chapel Hill, NC 27516, USA. Tel.: +1 919 966 2531, Fax: +1 919 966 7013, mprivera@med.unc.edu

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Key Issues

• Lung cancer kills more women each year that breast, uterine, and ovarian cancers combined.

• Cigarette smoking is by far the major cause of lung cancer.

• Whether women are more at risk for lung cancer compared to men is an area of controversy.

• There is considerable evidence that the biology of lung cancer differs between females and males.

• Women are more likely to have p53gene and K-rasoncogene mutations.

• Women have a decreased DNA repair capacity compared with men.

• Exogenous and endogenous estrogens may play a role in the development of lung cancer.

• Combined hormonal replacement therapy has been shown to be associated with increased mortality from lung cancer.

• Women are more likely than men to develop adenocarcinoma and bronchioloalveolar carcinoma.

• Women have better responses to therapy for lung cancer, regardless of stage, therapeutic modality or histology.