Epidemiology of lung cancer in women: risk factors, survival, and screening.

Abstract

Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer mortality in both men and women. Tobacco use causes the vast majority of lung cancer in women but does not explain all cases, because about one in five women who develop lung cancer have never smoked. Environmental exposures, genetic predisposition, hormonal factors, and viral infection may all play a role in lung cancer in women. A better understanding may provide an avenue to more effective screening, diagnosis, and therapy.