It is the life blood of some states, so totaly baning cigarettes will be quite difficult. The older you get the higher your risk for death if you smoke. The more you smoke the greater your chances of dying. Treatmen and prognosis is determined by multiple factors. The most important determinant is stage.
Stage is how far the tumor has spread.
This can somewhat be determined without surgery, though surgery is needed in many patients for accurate staging. The second important factor is the histologic type of lung cancer. There are several different types of lung cancer, each of which have different prognoses and therapies. Lung cancer is sometimes picked up early, but our best treatment is prevention. Not smoking and stopping smoking are the two most important things we can do for ourselves and our loved ones.