Abstract

Objective: Lung cancer required much greater attention as it is the most common cause of death. According to statistics in 2010, 85% of lung cancer in men and 57% in women are attributed to tobacco smoking. The aim of the study was to describe the clinical and pathologic characteristics of the female patients who visited the Department of Medical Oncology of Acıbadem Maslak Hospital between 2009 and 2017. Material and Methods: Clinicopathologic data collected for analyses included age at diagnosis, history of cigarette use, comorbid conditions, family history, tumor-node-metastasis stage, pathologic subtypes of lung carcinoma, and the given therapy. From July 2017 to February 2018, we collected data of 540 female patients with lung cancer at the Department of Medical Oncology of Acıbadem Maslak Hospital. Results: Among 540 patients, 185 patients (34.3%) were nonsmokers, 106 (19.6%) were current smokers, and 210 (38.9%) were former smokers. Data on common comorbid conditions such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and coronary artery disease were collected, and the conditions were classified according to the smoking status of the patients. Among current and former smokers, 36.7% were diagnosed with hypertension, 18.3% with diabetes mellitus, and 11% with coronary artery diseases. Moreover, 75% of all patients were diagnosed with nonsmall-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), whereas 16% were diagnosed with small-cell lung cancer. Adenocarcinoma is the most common histological type of cancer seen in patients with NSCLC (77%), followed by patients with squamous cell carcinoma (15%). Conclusion: Factors other than tobacco use, such as radon exposure, air pollution, radiation exposure, and an unbalanced diet are responsible for the increasing incidence of lung cancer. However, further studies are warranted to investigate the cause of the epidemic differences in women, particularly the gender bias in nonsmoker patients with lung cancer.