Lung overtakes breast as biggest cancer killing Victoria’s women

Statistics reported in the Cancer Council Victoria’s annual report on Friday have revealed lung cancer has overtaken breast cancer as the number one cancer killer of Victorian women.

Now the most common cancer among women and men; the shocking statistics show that the five year survival rate of those diagnosed with lung cancer sits at just 18 per cent.

This is due to the difficulty in catching lung cancer in its early stages, where treatment would be most effective. Todd Harper, the chief executive of Cancer Council Victoria also adds that more research is needed to ‘identify treatment options that can provide hope for people diagnosed with lung cancer.”

The director of Quit Victoria, Dr Sarah White explains that these new statistics reflect the sharp increase in smoking that occurred forty years ago. “They aggressively marketed to women and to young teenagers and unfortunately we are seeing the results of that now,” she said.

Learn more about the report and its findings: HERE.