The Facts About Lung Cancer

Lung Cancer is the #1 Cancer Killer in the United States (1, 8)

• More Americans die from lung cancer each year than colon, breast, pancreatic and prostate cancers combined.
• 160,000 Americans died of lung cancer in 2009.
• 437 Americans die from lung cancer every day.
• Lung cancer accounted for 15% of all new cancers diagnoses, but 28% of all cancer deaths in 2009.
• Only 16% of lung cancer is being diagnosed at its earliest and most curable stage.

Lung Cancer is a “Contemporary Epidemic in Women” & Their #1 Cancer Killer (1,2,3,4)

• Lung cancer kills more women each year than breast, uterine and ovarian cancers combined.
• Lung cancer surpassed breast cancer as the #1 cancer killer of women in 1987.
• Twice as many women will die of lung cancer as of breast cancer this year.
• 5-year survival rates
  • breast cancer 89%
  • prostate cancer 99%
  • colon cancer 65%
  • lung cancer 15%
• The rate of lung cancer among women has risen 60% since 1990.

Stopping Smoking Will Improve Your Health, But It Will Not Cure Lung Cancer (2,3,5,6,7)

•  20,000 – 25,000 newly diagnosed lung cancer victims never smoked cigarettes - and these cases are on the rise.
• Nonsmoking-related causes of lung cancer include:
  • Air pollution - as high a cancer risk as living with a smoker.
  • Radon - the 2nd leading cause of lung cancer, after tobacco smoke.
  • Exposure to asbestos, uranium, arsenic, diesel fuel and other carcinogens.
• Over 60% of newly diagnosed lung cancer victims are former smokers or never smoked cigarettes in their lives.
• Significant risk of lung cancer remains for 20 or more years after quitting smoking.

1. Cancer Facts and Figures 2009, American Cancer Society
2. Patel JD, Bach PR, Kris MG. Lung cancer in US women: A contemporary epidemic. JAMA. 2004; 291:1763-1768.
3. Nordquist LT, Simon GR, Cantor A, Alberts WM, Bepler G. Improved survival in never-smokers vs current smokers with primary adenocarcinoma of the lung. Chest. 2004;126:347-351.
4. Thomas L, Doyle LA, Edelman MJ. Lung cancer in women: Emerging differences in epidemiology, biology, and therapy. Chest. 2005;128:370-381.
5. Warner EE, Mulshine JL. Lung cancer screening with spiral CT: toward a working strategy. Oncology (Williston Park). 2004 May;18(5):564-75, discussion 578, 583-4, 587.
6. Ebbert JO, Yang P, Vachon CM, Vierkant RA, Cerhan JR, Folsom AR, Sellers TA. Lung cancer risk reduction after smoking cessation: Observations from a prospective cohort of women. J Clin Oncol. 2003;21(5);921-926.
7. Furak J, Trojan I, Szoke T, et al. Bronchioloalveolar Lung Carcinoma:. Occurrence, surgical treatment & survival. Eur J Cardiothorac Surg. 2003;23:818-823.
8. Lung Cancer Alliance 2009 Fact Sheet