Rise in lung cancer cases among non-smokers and women
More women are being diagnosed with lung cancer, while the number of diagnoses in men is falling, according to figures from the Belgian Cancer Registry (BCR) published in Het Laatste Nieuws on Tuesday.
Lung cancer is one of the cancers with the lowest survival rates, and the risk of developing it has increased in women over the last few decades. While this cancer remains a disease that mainly affects men, the gap between the two groups is narrowing.
"We are seeing more and more people who have never smoked developing lung cancer"
Professor and lung surgeon Paul De Leyn from UZ Leuven says that the idea that lung cancer is caused exclusively by smoking is now outdated.
"We are seeing more and more people who have never smoked developing lung cancer. This now accounts for almost one in five patients, and increasingly these are women," he told Het Laatste Nieuws.
Other factors, such as air pollution and hormones, may also play a role, although more concrete evidence is needed. Doctors are calling for a clear plan to enable earlier detection of lung cancer, as is the case for colon cancer. The survival rate for lung cancer in Belgium has increased by 13.5 per cent over the past 20 years.
© PHOTO PASCAL POCHARD-CASABIANCA / AFP
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