Lung cancer is the most common cancer in both men and women.
More importantly, it's the most common cause of death from cancer in both men and women. Causes Cigarette smoking is the main cause of about 90 percent of lung cancer cases in men and about 70 percent of them in women. Lung cancer has become more common in women because more women are smoking cigarettes. The more cigarettes a person smokes, the greater the risk of lung cancer. Working with asbestos, radiation, arsenic, chromates, nickel, chloromethyl ethers, mustard gas, and coke-oven emissions has been linked with lung cancer, although usually only in people who also smoke cigarettes.