In recent years, incidence rate of lung cancer in Women is gradually increasing, while the majority of those female patients are involved in passive smoking. Although many women do not smoke, as long as exposed to secondhand smoke for around 15 minutes and with time goes by, their risk of lung cancer is getting greatly higher. The survey of the Public Health Service of the United States showed that as long as living with a smoker increases a nonsmoker’s chances of developing lung cancer, because the content of the carcinogens that can cause cancer in secondhand tobacco smoke is 50 times or above higher than those inhaled by the smoker themselves.

Living with Male Smokers—The Chance of Female Non-Smoker Developing Lung cancer is 6 Times Higher

The majority of the female patients with lung cancer are non-smokers, but the causes of their cancers are closely related to smoking, properly speaking, are related to the smokers around them.

According to statistics, among the non-smokers suffering from non-small cell lung cancer, nearly 25% are caused by second-hand smoke, and living with smokers will increase nonsmoker’s chances of developing lung cancer by 25%. A research report even pointed out that this chance for female non-smokers is 6 times higher than those women who are not exposed to second-hand smoke!

Lung cancer has high mortality rate, accounting for 30% of all cancers. About 90% of patients with lung cancer are smokers, but smoking is only one of the causes, in fact only 10% of heavy smokers get lung cancer. However, smoking will not only increase the risk of lung cancer and can also cause other types of cancer and cardiovascular diseases.

15 Minutes Is Enough to Cause Passive Smoking

How to identify passive smoking? The specialist from Modern Cancer Hospital Guangzhou explains that as long as staying with the tobacco smoke given by smokers more than 15 minutes, you become the passive smoker, which means one smoker who only needs to smoke two tobaccos is enough to produce couple of passive smokers.

People used to think that the air pollution, especially vehicle exhaust is also a major risk factor of lung cancer. In 2002, the scientists from United States researched on the automobile exhaust and found it contains 100 kinds of chemical carcinogens but through statistical analysis, atmospheric pollution resulting in lung cancer accounts for only 1%, while smoking accounts for more than 90%. Of course there are other factors related to cancer, for example genetic history, but there is a very clear point that passive smoking accounts for a large part of causing lung cancer in women.

*Surgery, in addition to the appropriate chemotherapy and radiotherapy, are effective in treating early cancer, but certain patients in late stage of cancer may not be tolerate surgery well as they can be relatively weak. A combination of carefully planned minimally invasive therapy, chemotherapy or radiotherapy can effectively reduce the side effects and discomfort of treatment and may help patient get better efficacy.