- Individuals aged 30-34 years in Canada, Denmark, and Germany.
- Those aged 40-44 years in Germany, the Netherlands, and the United States.
- Those aged 44-50 years in the Netherlands and the United States.
- Those aged 50-54 years in Canada, Denmark, and New Zealand.
Countries with an insignificant crossover from male to female dominance of lung cancer were located across Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania.
Again, incidence rates were typically characterized by falling rates of lung cancer among men in more recent birth cohorts, and lung cancer incidence trends were more variable in women.
The team writes: “Of note, the six countries demonstrating a significant crossover are among those considered to be more advanced in the tobacco epidemic.
“Many of the countries where the crossover was insignificant or when there was no crossover are considered to be late adopters of the tobacco epidemic, with the effects of the epidemic on the burden of lung cancer and other smoking-related diseases beginning to manifest more recently, or perhaps yet to come.”
They suggest that low- and middle-resource countries may not follow the tobacco epidemic pattern of high-income countries, and so “we may not see higher lung cancer incidence rates in women than men for the foreseeable future in these countries.”
No funding for the study has been disclosed. The authors have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.
This article first appeared on Medscape.com.