More Americans die each year from lung cancer than from breast, prostate, and colorectal cancers combined. Lung cancer kills more men annually than prostate cancer and more women than breast cancer. Every three minutes another person is diagnosed with lung cancer. 18 people will die each hour from lung cancer. The American Cancer Society estimates that 164,100 Americans will be diagnosed with lung cancer and 156,900 will die from the disease in the year 2000.
Tobacco addiction is the number one cause of lung cancer.
Some studies show that women are more susceptible to the carcinogenic effects of tobacco. Non-tobacco related causes of lung cancer include exposure to radon, diesel fuel, asbestos, and other toxic chemicals. Although smoking cessation reduces the risk of lung cancer, former smokers always remain at higher risk than people who have never smoked. Currently, there is no FDA-approved screening test for lung cancer. New treatment approaches and recent technical advances are increasing cure and survival rates and improving the quality of life for people with lung cancer.