For first time lung cancer rates for women drop

Sept. 19, 2011  (Cancer Digest) – The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported this week that the number of men and women being diagnosed with lung cancer dropped over the recent decade of 1999 to 2008, that’s the first time the rate for women has dropped.

While men have been quitting steadily over the past decade the rates for women had been going up until 2006, when the trend reversed, and lung cancer rates for women began to decline.

The CDC's report, which was issued Sept. 18, showed that the decrease in lung cancer cases corresponds with decreases in smoking. States that have made the greatest investments in effective tobacco control strategies are seeing larger reductions in smoking and greater savings in smoking-related health care costs. 

Such states with the lowest lung cancer rates among men were in the West, and lung cancer rates among women declined in California, Florida, Nevada, Oregon, Texas and Washington. 

The CDC published the study results in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. To read the full report, visit the CDC's Vital Signs report: Adult Smoking in the US.