ASCO 2022 | Challenges faced by women with lung cancer

Narjust Duma, MD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, discusses the challenges faced by woman with lung cancer and why since 2018 the number of cases of woman with lung cancer has increased and for first time there are more woman with lung cancer than men. Woman take 2-3 times longer than men to be diagnosed with lung cancer and, subsequently, the majority are diagnosed with stage IV incurable disease. As such, the death rate of woman with breast, uterine, ovarian and cervical cancer combined is less than that of lung cancer. The genetic composition of lung cancer in woman is different to that of men and woman are more likely to experience side effects. However, the data utilized to treat woman with lung cancer are extrapolated from clinical trials involving a predominantly white male population despite differences between men and woman in response to treatment. This interview took place at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2022 Annual Meeting in Chicago, IL.