Background: A retrospective study including all patients with non-small cell lung cancer carcinoma in a population-based registry was performed to characterize gender differences in lung cancer and to analyze the factors influencing prognosis in women.
Methods: We retrieved through the Tuscan Cancer Registry (RTT) archive 2,523 lung tumor cases diagnosed during the period 1996-1998 in the provinces of Florence and Prato, central Italy. We compared the prognosis within 464 non-small lung cancer women and 1,798 men in a population-based case series. The influence of the following variables on postoperative survival were analyzed: age, cell type, pathologic T and N status, site of tumor and type of surgical resection.
Results: The age at diagnosis was similar in women and in men. Women were significantly more likely to have adenocarcinoma but less likely to have squamous cell carcinoma compared with men. Fewer pneumonectomies were performed in women than in men. Nevertheless, prognosis was similar in both sexes and type of surgical resection was significant prognostic factor.
Conclusions: Lung cancer was more frequent in men than in women, but overall survival is similar. Differences in lung cancer histology and rate of pneumonectomies were found between men and women.