Lung cancer in women

Abstract

Eighty-three instances of lung cancer in women are presented. The frequency of the condition is lower in women than in men but the tumours in women tend to be less well differentiated and are less likely to be resectable than in men. The frequency of extrathoracic metastases at the time of diagnosis is greater in women than in men. It is suggested that the immunological defences of women are better than those of men because of sex-linked genes, present in double dose in the female, which are concerned with the immunological mechanisms, and that the clinically apparent tumours are those which, by virtue of their greater intrinsic malignancy, can overcome the defence mechanisms.