Lung cancer is the number one cause of cancer deaths in the US (for both men AND women), and the second most commonly diagnosed cancer. In 2005, about 172,600 cases of lung cancer were diagnosed and about 168,000 people died of lung cancer (in the US).
Lung cancer kills more women each year than any other cancer, including breast cancer, and while rates of lung cancer in men are slowly decreasing, rates in women have remained stable for several years. Women are one and a half times more likely to develop lung cancer than men who smoke the same amount, although scientists are not exactly sure why.
