LThe share of women among people affected by lung cancer in France increased from 16% in 2000 to 34.6% in 2020, according to data from general hospitals published in the Lancet Regional Health. In the 1970s, lung cancer in women was an exception. Today in France, it has become one of the leading causes of cancer death in women.
However, as several studies show – including a publication by AP-HP in May 2023 – with equal tobacco consumption, the risk of developing lung cancer is much higher in female smokers than in male smokers. There are several hypotheses to explain this inequality.
Smoking is decreasing in France except among women
One of them is based on differences in body surface area. Between a woman who is 1.60 m tall and weighs 50 kilos and a guy who is 1.85 m tall and weighs 90 kilos, the respiratory tracts obviously do not have the same surface area. Probably, in women, the same quantity of smoke is therefore concentrated on a smaller surface area.
ALSO READ Lung cancers are two to three times more likely to be detected in womenIt is also known that tobacco addiction is stronger in women. Hormones probably play a role in this difference. But there are no precise answers yet. However, women are not sufficiently informed about the dangers of tobacco for them. Especially since the figures for their consumption are poor. […] Read more
