Women from Tier II and III cities highest among lung cancer patients, a staggering 82 per cent of women patients were non-smokers
In order to understand the various aspects of lung cancer amongst men and women, a study was undertaken by Max Cancer Centre, Max Super Speciality Hospital, Saket with more than 250 patients of lung cancer. Over a period of two years from 2013 to 2015, the study showed that the major cause for developing lung cancer is tobacco consumption and this cancer is often viewed solely as a smoker’s disease. However, the rate of the disease among non-smokers – and women – has risen substantially.
75 per cent of all lung cancer patients were male; female constitute around one-fourth of the total number of lung cancer patients. Among men, 70 per cent of patients were smokers and 30 per cent were non-smokers, while among women a staggering 82 per cent patients were non-smokers.
These women were mainly from Delhi – NCR and Tier II and III cities like Moradabad, Saharanpur, Hathras, Agra, Mathura, Varanasi, Muzzafar Nagar etc.
Dr Anil Kumar Anand, Senior Director, Radiation Oncology, Principal Investigator, Hospital Based Cancer Registry, Max Cancer Centre, Max Super Speciality Hospital, Saket said, “In India, we have observed a substantial overall increase in the number of cancer cases in the last decade. However, In our study, we observed a steeper rise of lung cancer cases among women, out of which 82 per cent were non-smokers.”