Cancer is a disease marked by the uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells.
The abnormal cells may no longer do the work of normal cells, and they crowd out and destroy healthy tissue. Lung cancer is the most common cancer-related cause of death among men and women. It is the second most commonly occurring cancer among men and women. It has been estimated that there will be 169,500 new cases of lung cancer in the U.S. in 2001 alone. The rate of lung cancer cases appears to be declining among white and black men in the U.S., while it continues to increase among both white and African-American women.