WINNIPEG - Lung cancer has surpassed breast cancer as the leading cause of cancer death among women and young women are at risk, according to CancerCare Manitoba.

Dr. Dhali Dhaliwal, president and CEO of CancerCare Manitoba, says in the past 15 years, lung cancer rates among Canadian women have risen 30 per cent. Among men, they've dropped by 22 per cent. Dhaliwal says the increase in lung cancer is directly related to smoking. "Teenage girls are very interested in keeping their weight down. There is a misconception that cigarettes help you stay thin, and many, many cigarette companies exploit that by having those images in the magazines young women read," he says. Dhaliwal says Manitoba's increasing incidence of lung cancer is also due to high smoking rates among low-income earners and aboriginal people. He expects Winnipeg's indoor smoking ban will definitely decrease the rate of lung cancer. An estimated 630 Manitobans died of lung cancer in 2003.

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