Women’s smoking patterns in 1960s cause ‘alarming’ rise in lung cancer today

Lung cancer rates doubled for women over 60 since the mid-1970s, figures show, and tripled for women over 80.

Cancer Research UK, which released the figures ahead of No Smoking Day on Wednesday, called the data “alarming”.

Lung cancer diagnosis rates for British women aged 60 and over rose from 88 per 100,000 in 1975 to 190 per 100,000 in 2008, the most recent year for which figures are available.

Almost 5,700 women over 60 were diagnosed with lung cancer in 1975. This jumped to more than 15,100 in 2008.

Since the late 1980s there was some improvement for women aged 60-69, with lung cancer rates levelling out and then falling. But since 2002 the rates have been steadily climbing again.

Lung cancer rates among women aged 70-79, and those aged 40-49, are levelling off and falling, however.

Smoking causes around 90% of lung cancers, with the trends in cancer diagnosis mirroring the trends in smoking patterns in previous years.

Jean King, Cancer Research UK’s director of tobacco control, said: “These figures highlight how important tobacco control measures are in helping people to stop smoking. With the lung cancer rate rising among women we would like the Government to introduce a comprehensive and well funded tobacco control strategy that targets at risk groups and stops young people from beginning an addiction that kills half of all long term smokers.

“Around nine in ten cases of lung cancer are caused by smoking and one in five people still smoke, so it’s vital that work continues to support smokers to quit and protect young people from being recruited into an addiction that kills half of all long term smokers. In particular we want displays in shops covered up so that young people are no longer being exposed to this form of tobacco marketing.”