Who is more Susceptible to the Effects of Smoking?

Published on May 7, 2009 4:21 AM

Women may be more likely to develop lung cancer from the carcinogens in tobacco and cigarettes, according to a recent study.

Researchers studied 683 lung cancer patients who were send to a cancer centre and found that women tended to be younger when they developed the cancer, despite having smoked on average significantly less than men.

"Our findings suggest that women may have an increased susceptibility to tobacco carcinogens," report Dr. Martin Frueh and colleagues.

Statistics show that lung cancer is not only a man's disease, but women tend to be much more aware of other cancers, such as breast cancer. Several case-control studies seem to suggest that women are more vulnerable to tobacco carcinogens than men.

For women, the survival rate from lung cancer is higher at all stages of the disease. This survival advantage is especially remarkable for early stage lung cancer that can be treated with surgery. Women may also respond better to the newer targeted therapies for lung cancer.

COPD is another epidemic disease among women. Recently, the number of women diagnosed with COPD surpassed the number of men with the disease. Women appear to be more susceptible to smoking-induced airflow obstruction, and to manifest symptoms at a younger age.

It is believed that the smaller stature of women, and thus their smaller airway calibers, accounts for much of this increased susceptibility, though other factors may also contribute. Women with COPD are more likely to be misdiagnosed with asthma than are men, and thus under diagnosis of COPD is more an issue for the female sex.

Women had even histories of less frequent and shorter attempts at quitting and higher relapse rates than did men. Fear of weight gain is believed to be one of several factors that may make women less successful than men at quitting smoking.