Women Non-Smokers Urged To Be Attentive To Their Lungs On Anniversary Of Dana Reeve's Death

Main Category: Lung Cancer
Also Included In: Women's Health / Gynecology;  Cancer / Oncology;  Public Health
Article Date: 07 Mar 2007 - 0:00 PDT

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On the one-year anniversary of the death of actress Dana Reeve, a non-smoker who died from lung cancer, the American Lung Association of Michigan (ALAM) is urging women to be attentive to their lungs, regardless of their smoking history.

According to a Stanford University of Medicine study entitled "Lung Incidence in Never Smokers" published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, "lung cancer in never smokers is an increasingly prominent public health issue." The study, conducted by Dr. Heather Wakelee of the Stanford Clinical Cancer Center's Division of Medical Oncology, found that women are more likely than men to have non-smoking-associated lung cancer.

Raymond Maloni, CEO of ALAM, said that Reeve's illness and death is significant in that "it shows that regardless of your smoking history, you can still get lung cancer. Everyone assumes that if you have lung cancer, you have smoked and brought it on yourself. Reeve and other non-smokers with lung cancer prove that this is not the case." The study also found that eight percent of men and 20 percent of women who are diagnosed with lung cancer have never smoked. This year, nearly 30,000 people, two-thirds of them women, who have never smoked will be diagnosed with lung cancer.

The study went on to say that when comparable groups of men and women were evaluated, rates of non-smoking-associated lung cancer were consistently higher among women. "The higher rate among females suggests sex-based differences in either susceptibility or exposure to risk factors (such as secondhand smoke) for non-smoking-associated lung cancer."

Lung cancer is the number one cancer killer of women. More than 70,000 women this year will die from lung cancer, more than from breast, ovarian and cervical cancers combined.

In response to the incidence of lung cancer and other lung diseases among women, ALAM has embarked on a year-long, statewide campaign about women's lung health called Catch Your Breath. A day-long conference and luncheon focusing on the issue will take place April 18 at the Troy Marriott Hotel.

American Lung Association of Michigan
http://www.alam.org/

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