Lung cancer is the number one cause of cancer-related death in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has now released a report showing the racial and regional prevalence of lung cancer.
The analysis revealed that lung cancer strikes men more often than women: per 100,000 people, an average of 88.2 men were diagnosed with the disease, compared to 55.4 women. Incidence per 100,000 people was also highest among African Americans (76.1), followed by Caucasians (69.7), American Indians (48.4), Asian Americans (38.4) and Hispanics (37.3).
There was also significant regional variation in the incidence of lung cancer: More cases were diagnosed in the South per 100,000 people (76.0) than in any other region, followed by the Midwest (73.0), the Northeast (68.6) and the West (58.8). Throughout all categories, cancer of the lung was most prevalent among older people, with the highest number of cases among people in their seventies.
An editorial accompanying the report suggests the variations in lung cancer incidence are influenced by differences in smoking prevalence, exposure to carcinogens and genetic susceptibility to lung cancer. The good news: Tobacco control efforts have been effective in decreasing lung cancer incidence overall.
