Remember, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths among U.S. women.
About 85 to 90 percent of lung cancer cases are among smokers, or people who smoked in the past.
Hormone replacement therapy substantially increases the risk of lung cancer among post-menopausal women, especially women who smoke.
More Scottish Women Dying of Lung Cancer The BBC has reported an increase in lung cancer deaths among women in Scotland. Over a 10-year period ending in 2008, lung cancer deaths among Scottish men declined by 21 percent, according to the BBC, but increased among women by 11 percent.
Read: Rise in Female Lung Cancer Deaths
Who Gets Treated Promptly? This kind of story always fries me, even though the results are just what I would expect: The time lapsed between a lung cancer diagnosis and the beginning of treatment is longer for people who are treated in public hospitals, don't have adequate health insurance coverage, are older, or are minorities.
Read: Delays in Lung Cancer Treatment More Common in Public Hospitals
Pfizer Halts Lung Cancer Clinical Trial Pfizer, which recently gobbled up rival Wyeth, halted a lung cancer clinical trial in early October, because the risks posed by the treatment were greater than the disease.
According to news reports, the halt was recommended by independent safety monitors overseeing the study. They found "more serious adverse events, including deaths," among the patients receiving the drug, figitumumab.
This news is a good reminder than there are risks involved in taking part in clinical trials. After all, to get a drug to the phase III level, it only need be tested in a handful of patients.
Read: Pfizer Halts Lung Cancer Clinical Trial
@ Jeanne Sather 2009.
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