Women who never smoked can still get lung cancer, an oncologist explains

Lung cancer is not only a disease of men who have smoked for years. In an article for Prothom Alo, Dr. Arman Reza Chowdhury, senior consultant in radiation oncology at Evercare Hospital in Dhaka, writes that women can develop it too, including women who have never smoked.

Smoking is the main risk, he explains, but not the only cause. Regularly breathing in the smoke of a husband or another family member, known as secondhand smoke, also raises the risk. For women in Bangladesh, indoor air pollution may be to blame as well: long exposure to smoke from cooking with wood, coal or other biomass fuels damages the lungs, especially in closed kitchens without ventilation.

Outdoor air pollution, exposure to certain harmful chemicals at work, family history and genetic changes can also play a part. Research shows that women make up a notable share of lung cancer patients who do not smoke, he writes, and in some Asian women the cancer carries a change in a gene called EGFR.

In the early stages there are often no symptoms, and those that appear can be mistaken for an ordinary cough, an allergy or a chest infection. He advises seeing a doctor for a cough lasting more than two to three weeks, coughing up blood, breathlessness, chest pain, unexplained weight loss or repeated lung infections.

Modern treatment has changed the old belief that lung cancer means certain death, Dr. Chowdhury says. Found early, it can be cured with surgery or, in certain cases, with highly precise stereotactic body radiotherapy. Depending on the type and stage, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, immunotherapy and targeted therapy are used.

Molecular testing is therefore very important, he notes: when specific genetic changes such as EGFR, ALK or ROS1 are found, targeted drugs can be given.

To prevent lung cancer in women he gives three pieces of advice: keep homes and workplaces smoke-free, make sure kitchens are well ventilated, and cut exposure to air pollution as far as possible.

Photo: unknown author / Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

Source: Prothom Alo