Women ‘ vulnerable to tobacco carcinogens’

Women are more vulnerable than men to the cancer-causing effects of smoking.

Washington, May 04: A new study, conducted by a team of Swiss researchers, has found that women may be more vulnerable than men to the cancer-causing effects of smoking tobacco.

For the study, the research team examined 683-lung cancer patients who were referred to a cancer centre in St Gallen between 2000 and 2005. They found that women tended to be younger when they developed the cancer, despite having smoked on average significantly less than men. "Our findings suggest that women may have an increased susceptibility to tobacco carcinogens," report Dr Martin Frueh and colleagues. Dr Enriqueta Felip from Val d`Hebron University Hospital in Barcelona, Spain, conference co-chair, said that the results of the study back a growing awareness that smoking presents greater risks to women than men. "Lung cancer is not only a man`s disease, but women tend to be much more aware of other cancers, such as breast cancer. Several case-control studies seem to suggest that women are more vulnerable to tobacco carcinogens than men," she said. The study has been reported at the European Multidisciplinary Conference in Thoracic Oncology (EMCTO), Lugano, Switzerland. ANI