Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death for both men and women. There were more than 164,000 new cases of lung cancer in 2000. About 157,000 people will die of lung cancer this year.
More people die of lung cancer than of colon, breast and prostate cancers combined.
The average age of people found to have lung cancer is 60. The five-year survival rate for all stages of lung cancer combined was 14 percent in 1995. Symptoms of lung cancer often do not appear until the disease is quite advanced, so early detection is difficult. Thirty pack years is defined as smoking one pack of cigarettes a day for 30 years or two packs a day for 15 years. The trial involves two separate screenings.