Lung Cancer, Are Women More Susceptible Than Men?

Dr. Henschke recalls if women are more susceptible to lung cancer than men.

Dr. Henschke:
We address the question of whether women are more susceptible to lung cancer because there’s a lot of debate in the literature. There is some literature that says they are; some literature says that they are not. When we looked at our, at our study and analyzed it from that point and perspective, we found that women are more at risk of lung cancer, are at higher risk of lung cancer than equally smoking and equally aged men. So we looked at the differences, made sure that they were matched for age and for smoking history, and women were at higher risk.

Now interestingly enough, they, however, do better with treatment. So they have a higher success rate when they are treated for lung cancer, and the reasons for those we don’t know. Some people have suggested, some researchers from MD Anderson and also other researchers from Pittsburgh have suggested that the DNA repair mechanism of women is not quite as good as that of men. There may be other genetic differences. These are all very important research topics that are being addressed.

About Dr. Henschke, M.D., Ph.D.:
Dr. Claudia Ingrid Henschke, M.D., Ph.D., M.S., is an Attending Radiologist at New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Professor of Radiology in Cardiothoracic Surgery at Weill Cornell Medical School. She is a clinical expert in percutaneous fine needle lung biopsies and thoracic radiology and board certified in Diagnostic Radiology. Dr. Henschke received her master’s degree from Southern Methodist University, her Ph.D. from the University of Georgia, and medical degree from Howard University College of Medicine.

Visit Dr. Henschke at Weill Cornell Medical College