Ms. Magazine highlights a report on women and lung cancer from the Mary Horrigan Connors Center For Women's Health and Gender Biology, noting, Currently, lung cancer kills more women than breast, ovarian, and uterine cancers combined. Lung cancer first surpassed breast cancer to become the single largest cause of cancer deaths in American women in 1987.
This is a little-known fact among the public, says Dr. Ross, since much more attention is paid to breast cancer than to the much more dangerous lung cancer, for a variety of reasons. It's good that this fact is gaining more of a foothold in the media as well.
Such a discussion about lung cancer is something you would never have seen in a women s magazine 10 or 15 years ago, says Dr. Whelan. Given the influence of cigarette ads on editorial policy, women s magazines and all magazines that accepted cigarette ads have a deplorable history of neglecting to cover the health hazards of smoking. Most women are probably unaware that lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in women. Breast cancer gets so much more attention. We congratulate Ms. for being so forthcoming (at last) about this serious issue.