Lung cancer: for the first time, women more affected than men in the United Kingdom

Historically, the rate of smoking has always been higher among men, but it has gradually decreased over the years, while that of women has increased, or stabilized, depending on the country, in recent decades. . And this is not without consequences on the incidence of certain cancers. In the United Kingdom, projections made by Cancer Research UK for The Guardian reveal that the number of women diagnosed with lung cancer will for the first time be higher than that of men this year – specifically over a period that extends from 2022 to 2024. The analysis estimates the number of cases at 27,332 of lung cancer in British women, compared to 27,172 cases in men.

A widening gap

The third most common cancer in the UK, lung cancer accounted for 13% of all new cancer cases in 2016-2018, according to the most recent data from Cancer Research UK. It is also the most common cause of cancer death accounting for 21% of all cancer deaths between 2017 and 2019. The UK research center also reveals that lung cancer incidence rates have increased by 32% among women since the beginning of the 1990s, while they have fallen by 34% among men. Until then, however, men remained the most affected, with around 25,300 new cases each year over the period 2016-2018, compared to 23,300 new cases among women.

As we have seen, this trend should be completely reversed this year, and it could even be that the gap widens in the years to come to the detriment of women. According to the new projections, more than 34,800 women are expected to be diagnosed by 2038-2040, compared to more than 31,350 men. As for the incidence rate per 100,000 people, it should drop considerably, from 91 cases in men and 71 cases in women over the period 2016-2018 to 80 cases in men and 78 cases in women in here 2038-2040.

“This change is primarily due to historical differences in smoking prevalence between the sexes. Smoking rates peaked much earlier in men than in women, so the incidence of lung cancer began to decline. decrease earlier in men than in women”explains Alizée Froguel, head of prevention policy at Cancer Research UK, to the Guardian.

What about France?

As in the United Kingdom, lung cancer is the third most common in France, as well as the most common cause of cancer death, according to data published by the National Cancer Institute (INCa). And not to mention an overrun in the number of cases in women, not yet in any case, the organization indicates that the incidence of lung cancer fell by 0.5% per year in men between 2010 and 2023, while it increased at the same time by 4.3% per year among women. “Whatever the age observed, the incidence of this cancer is higher in men than in women, however the gap narrows to the detriment of the latter”specifies the INCa.

A trend confirmed by recent work jointly carried out by Public Health France, INCa, the biostatistics-bioinformatics department of the Hospices Civils de Lyon (HCL), and Francim, the French network of cancer registries. The latter report an increase in the incidence of cancers particularly related to tobacco in women, including lung cancer. “There is a big signal of attention on mortality from lung cancer in women, which, in the next two to three years, will exceed mortality from breast cancer”explained Professor Norbert Ifrah, president of the Inca, relayed by AFP.

Faced with new projections made by Cancer Research UK, experts and health professionals are calling on the authorities to intensify awareness campaigns on the harmful effects of smoking, as well as public health campaigns to help people quit smoking. For their part, women are called upon to be extremely vigilant with regard to the first warning signs of lung cancer.