Lung cancer death in women more often

In 2006, 9,400 people in the Netherlands deceased from lung cancer. This is 7 percent of the total number of deaths. The number of women with lung cancer dies more than fivefold since 1970.
Increase in women, decrease in men

The proportion of women dying from lung cancer continues to rise, the proportion of men with this disease dies, is declining for twenty years. The reason for the increase in lung cancer mortality among women is that, although much later than men, on a large scale smoke. Because smoking until many years later can lead to lung cancer, these changes in smoking habits until much later reflected in the mortality of lung cancer.

Yet death is still twice as many men as women from lung cancer.
Deaths from lung cancer


Women younger than men

The average age of the men who died of lung cancer in 2006 was 70.6 years. Women deceased from lung cancer were on average 3.3 years younger.

The number of young people (under 30) dies of lung cancer that is small. In men between 60 and 70 years and women between 50 and 60 years, lung cancer is one in seven deaths the cause of death. It is striking that the age of 60 years the lung cancer mortality in women is higher than in men.
Proportion of lung cancer deaths in total mortality, 2006


Stop Smoking

The decrease in mortality from lung cancer in men and the increase in mortality in women is mainly due to the smoking behavior of both groups. Since the late fifties, the percentage of men who smoke fell sharply, from 90 percent to 34 percent in 2006. The percentage of women who smoke in the fifties and sixties has increased, but since 1970 it gradually declined to 25 percent in 2006.