Lung cancer may soon be as common in women as in men

Figures soon to be released from the National Cancer Registry show a rapid increase in lung cancer in women in the last eight years. The number of lung cancers diagnosed in women is increasing by over 3% per year, while for men, the numbers are falling by about 1% every year. If present trends continue, by 2015 women will have the same rate of lung cancer as men.

Statistics from the Central Statistics Office also show that deaths of women from lung cancer have increased steadily since 1960, while ther has been a major fall in death among men since the early 1980s. A dramatic increase in lung cancer deaths among women was seen in 2000, mainly in younger women. If these trends continue, by 2010 more owmen than men will be dying every year from lung cancer.

Data from the survey of health behaviour in school-aged children show that more 15 to 18 year-old girls smoke than boys of the same age.