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news.In a discovery that may be useful in the development of more advanced screening methods, researchers have found that many women recently diagnosed with lung cancer have normal lung function and perform better on lung function tests compared with their male counterparts.
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The study, published in the peer-reviewed medical journal CHEST, suggests that the disease in its earliest form may be more difficult to spot in women because it may not produce such obvious symptoms.
Among patients with lung cancer, significantly more men than women presented with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a well-known independent risk factor for lung cancer that progressively and permanently reduces lung function.
The researchers, at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, used pulmonary function testing to compare the prevalence of COPD in 151 men vs 143 women who were newly diagnosed with lung cancer. Spirometry testing was used to determine pulmonary function.
At the time of diagnosis, 72.8% of men presented with COPD compared with 52.4% of women.
“The absence of COPD should not lower the risk in a female patient who is otherwise considered to be at increased likelihood for developing lung cancer,” said Dr Loganathan of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and chief investigator in the study. “Physicians must consider additional (and well- established) risk factors, such as smoking history and age of the patient, when contemplating lung cancer screening.”