"SWHR has worked for many years through its scientific meetings, congressional educational briefings, support for legislation and public education campaigns to bring attention to sex differences in diseases including the impact of lung cancer on women and the unique ways the disease affects women," said Carol Nadelson, MD. Harvard Medical School/Brigham & Women's Hospital and member of SWHR's Board of Directors.

Increasingly, more people who have never smoked are being diagnosed with lung cancer. Of these 25,000 individuals, more than 60% of them are women. Emerging evidence suggests that women may be more sensitive than men to the cancer causing effects of chemicals in cigarettes, are more susceptible to the carcinogens in second hand smoke, and that the female hormone estrogen may elevate a women's risk for lung cancer.

SWHR reaffirms its commitment to collaborating with the national community of health organizations to ensure that women living with or at risk for lung cancer receive the necessary information to understand all aspects of this disease and to continue to encourage funding for basic and clinical research on sex differences that can translate into preventive, diagnostic, and therapeutic care to combat lung cancer.

SOURCE Society for Women's Health Research