Lung Cancer 101

to the editor: most women do not know that lung cancer is the biggest cancer killer and will kill nearly twice as many women (40,000 in 2009) as breast cancer (70,000 in 2009) (healthy manhattan, sept. 10). nor do women know that two out of three new cases are being diagnosed in women who are former smokers or who have never smoked. indeed, lung cancer in [people who were] never smokers is the sixth biggest cancer, and non-smoking women with lung cancer outnumber men nearly three to one. most will die within a year of diagnosis. why are doctors not talking about this?

laurie fenton ambrose president and ceo, lung cancer alliance washington, d.c.

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