Asbestos is perhaps the best known of the industrial substances associated with lung cancer, but there are many cancer causing substances that people may deal with at work. These include asbestos, uranium, arsenic, petroleum products, and others. In addition, it is important to realize that there are many different jobs that may involve exposure. Some examples are working with certain types of insulation, using insecticides, and repairing brakes. As is the case with radon, when exposure to job-related carcinogens is combined with smoking, the risk of getting lung cancer is sharply increased.
Lung cancer occurs most often in people over fifty who have long histories of cigarette smoking.
The incidence of lung cancer in women as a whole has climbed at an alarming rate, and these increases are clearly attributable to the increases in the number of women who have smoked. In 1987, lung cancer exceeded breast cancer for the first time as the major cancer cause of death in women. The rate of lung cancer among men as a whole in the U.S. has been declining in recent years-for example, dropping from a high of 86.4 per 100,000 men in 1984 to a level of 81.9 in 1986. However, the decline in the rate among men overall is due to a decline in the rate among white males. The rate among African-American men is rising.