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Since 1982, cancer has been the leading cause of mor-tality in Taiwan. Among all cancers, the lung is the second most frequently affected site for both men and women. Lung cancer has also been the leading cause of cancer death in women since 1986.1 Although cigarette smoking is considered to be the most important cause of lung cancer, smoking behaviour cannot fully explain the epidemiological characteristics of lung cancer in Taiwanese women,2,3 who, like Chinese women in th