Shechar Dworski, BSc
Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer-related deaths in both men and women, accounting for 34% of cancer-related deaths in men, and 22% in women. Lung cancer survival rates are dismal: the five-year survival rate is 14% for all cases of lung cancer, and the median survival is less than half a year for untreated patients. The lung cancer mortality rate in the United States is approximately 50 in 100,000, 68% of which occur in people over 65 years of age. Lung cancer mortality in the elderly is rising, which may be due to the aging of the population. Between 1968 and 1983, there was an 8.2% annual growth in mortality in white women 54 to 74 years old. The mortality rates in males seemed to reach a plateau in the 1980's, or may even be declining, possibly due to a decrease in the cigarette smoking by men from 67% in the 1950's, to 28% presently in the United States.
Over one half of all cases of lung cancer are reported in people aged 65 and over. Men aged 65 years and over have an incidence of lung cancer three times higher than men age 45 to 64. This trend is thought to be related to increased lifetime exposure to tobacco smoke and other carcinogens. The rate of lung cancer has risen dramatically in the last 70 years, accounting for 18% of all cancer cases in men, and 12% in women.
