"Female Smokers Get Lung Cancer Twice as Often as Men"

lthough the cause isn't yet clear, women who smoke are twice as likely as their male counterparts to develop lung cancer, according to research. The information stems from a long-term study at New York Hospital/Cornell Medical Center that is following male and female smokers aged 40 and older. During the study each participant was screened numerous times to detect any signs of the disease.

Study data showed that the rates of lung cancer for all smokers rose consistently with the number of years a person had smoked. But women's lung cancer rates also were consistently double those of men. For both sexes, cancer rates jumped significantly after the age of 50.

According to the American Cancer Society, lung cancer is still the leading cause of cancer death for both men and women, killing about 157,000 people each year. More people die of lung cancer than from colon, breast and prostate cancers combined.