Researchers from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine report that women with lung cancer are living longer than men - even if the disease is untreated. Their findings were presented at the 71st annual assembly of the American College of Chest Physicians.
It seems that of the patients receiving treatment for lung cancer, women had a significantly better survival rate than men. More surprising however, was the finding that in untreated patients, women had a 21 percent decreased risk of death compared to men. This has led the researchers to believe that lung cancer in women has a different biologic behavior than in men.
The researchers added that the survival rates for women with lung cancer were longer than men even after allowing for age, race, disease stage at diagnosis, histology, median income, geographic area, access to care, and type of treatment.
"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," said Mount Sinai researcher Juan Wisnivesky.
W. Michael Alberts, President of the American College of Chest Physicians, commented, "It is clear that gender plays a role in the survival rate of men and women. 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."
Source: American College of Chest Physicians
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