Almost as many women are dying from lung cancer as breast cancer, yet services for patients with tumours of the lung are lagging well behind those for other cancers, a major conference has heard.
Speaking at the All Ireland Lung Cancer Conference, which was held in Adare, Co Limerick, at the weekend, Prof Des Carney, consultant medical oncologist at the Mater hospital, Dublin, said one in four cancer deaths in women were from lung cancer.
"I anticipate that when we see the figures for 2002 from the National Cancer Registry, the number of lung cancer deaths in women will exceed those from breast cancer," he said.
With a five-year survival after diagnosis of less than 10 per cent, lung cancer has a poor prognosis. But with an increasing number of young women taking up smoking, "we are facing a lung cancer epidemic in women", Prof Carney told an audience of cancer specialists from Northern Ireland and the Republic.
Outlining the most recent research on smoking in women, he said that women become more dependent on nicotine than men, which makes it difficult to quit. Women who smoke are motivated by the desire to lose weight and one in four women smoke throughout pregnancy.
"Women develop lung cancer at an earlier age than men and after a shorter period smoking." According to Prof Carney, this suggests they are more susceptible than men to the cancer-inducing effects of tobacco.
Pointing out that most women get lung cancer 20 years after starting to smoke, he predicted an epidemic of the disease in 35- to 45-year-old women based on current female smoking trends.
Prof Carney criticised the lack of media coverage of lung cancer. "Lung cancer patients are being abandoned," he said, calling for the establishment of advocacy groups to highlight the need for additional resources and a better deal for patients.
The meeting also discussed draft guidelines for the management of lung cancer patients. Dr Finbar O'Connell, consultant respiratory physician at St James Hospital, Dublin, called for improvements in the delivery of care through earlier diagnosis, rapid access to diagnostic procedures and the provision of co-ordinated multidisciplinary treatment.
Calling for better organisation of services, Dr J.J. Gilmartin, consultant respiratory physician at University College Hospital, Galway, said: "The lack of respiratory physicians is stifling the development of lung cancer services."
Proposing guidelines for a "one-stop-shop" approach to lung cancer on the island, the meeting agreed the following targets:
A person with suspected lung cancer should be seen by a consultant within two weeks of referral.
Appropriate investigations should be available within one to two weeks of initial assessment.
Patients with confirmed lung cancer should receive treatment within one month.
Compared to other EU countries, the incidence rates for lung cancer in men is below average but are almost twice the EU average for women. More than 75 per cent of patients have advanced disease by the time they seek medical help.