kNOw Lung Cancer

Knowing the facts about lung cancer is the first step to saying NO to this disease. Lung cancer is the nation’s leading cause of cancer death, but lags behind other cancers in awareness and funding for research. Get educated and join the fight.

Lung Cancer is the #1 Cancer Killer in the United States

• 157,000 Americans are estimated to die from lung cancer this year - more than colon, breast, and pancreatic cancers combined.
• 430 Americans die from lung cancer every day.
• Lung cancer accounts for more that one out of four cancer deaths in the US.
• More than 220,000 Americans will be diagnosed with lung cancer this year.
• Lung cancer is the world’s deadliest cancer.

Lung Cancer Survival Rate Remains Bleak

• The estimated 5-year survival rate is 16%, which has remained largely unchanged since the 1970s.
• Only 16% of lung cancer is being diagnosed at its earliest and most curable stage.

Lung Cancer is the Leading Cause of Cancer Death in Women and Men

• Lung cancer surpassed breast cancer as the #1 cancer killer of women in 1987. Twice as many women die from lung cancer each year than from breast cancer.
• Lung cancer will kill more women this year than breast, ovarian, cervical, uterine and vaginal cancers combined.
• Lung cancer will kill more men this year than colorectal, prostate, pancreatic, and melanoma cancers combined.
• Women who have never smoked appear to be at greater risk for developing lung cancer than men who have never smoked.
• Women tend to develop lung cancer at younger ages than men.

Anyone Can Get Lung Cancer, Even Those Who Have Never Smoked

• Of never-smokers with lung cancer, women outnumber men three to one.
• One in five women and one in twelve men diagnosed with lung cancer have never smoked.
• Significant risk of lung cancer remains for 30 or more years after quitting smoking.
• Nonsmoking-related causes of lung cancer include air pollution, radon gas, asbestos, arsenic, chromium, nickel, soot, tar, and other substances.
• Over 55% of new cases are never smokers or former smokers, many of whom quit decades ago.

References:

1. Cancer Facts and Figures 2011, American Cancer Society. http://www.cancer.org/acs/groups/content/@epidemiologysurveilance/documents/document/acspc-029771.pdf  Accessed August 2011.
2. Fact sheet N°297. World Health Organization. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs297/en/ February 2011. Accessed August 30, 2011.
3. Hyams and Johnson. Out of the Shadows: Woman and Lung Cancer. Brigham and Women’s Hospital. 2010.
4. National Lung Screening Trial Research Team. Reduced Lung-Cancer Mortality with Low-Dose Computed Tomographic Screening. NEJM.  Online June 29, 2011. In print, August 4, 2011.
5. What You Need To Know About™ Lung Cancer, National Cancer Institute. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/wyntk/lung Accessed October, 2011.