A study shows that women smokers are twice as likely to develop lung cancer compared to their male counterparts.

Lung cancer kills more women in the US than breast and colon cancers combined. Researchers at New York Presbyterian Hospital and elsewhere now report on a study of nearly 20,000 current or former smokers undergoing screening by computed tomography. This showed that 1.2 per cent of the men and two per cent of the women already had lung cancer - even though they did not have symptoms.

However, the women were more likely to survive their disease, raising questions about how lung cancer may differ with gender. This is worthy of further investigation and, meanwhile, the dangers of smoking should be spelled out to young women who may be tempted to start.

Source
Journal of the American Medical Association 12th July 2006