In 1990, lung cancer accounted for about 10 percent of all cancer deaths among women worldwide and more than 20 percent of cancer deaths among women in some developed countries. Research shows that women are approximately 1.5 times more likely to develop lung cancer than men. The risk for lung cancer increases with quantity, duration, and intensity of smoking. The risk for dying of lung cancer is 20 times higher among women who smoke two or more packs of cigarettes per day than among women who do not smoke. Quitting reduces your lung cancer risk significantly, although former smokers are still at greater risk compared to people who never smoked.
Risk declines with the number of years of smoking cessation.
The U.S. Surgeon General reports that in a hospital-based study, the odds for lung cancer were higher among black women than among white women at each level of tar exposure. In 1996-1997, lung cancer incidence rates among women younger than age 65 were higher among blacks than whites, which suggests that differences between incidence among black women and white women may increase in the future. Six prospective studies, which included more than one million women from four countries, provided data on smoking and the risk for lung cancer among women. All showed significantly higher lung cancer mortality among smokers than among nonsmokers. Survival rates declined with age at diagnosis and advanced stages but were higher among women than among men at all ages and stages and for all cell types.