More than 156,000 people die annually. That's more than deaths from colon, breast and prostate cancers combined. Each year, more than 160,000 new cases of lung cancer are diagnosed. The time to stop lung cancer is before it starts, because lung cancer is typically not detected until it has spread to the lymph nodes, when the chance for survival is only 14 percent-not very good odds. But, unlike most other cancers, the major causes of lung cancer can be controlled.
Smoking is the leading risk factor for lung cancer.
In fact, more than 80 percent of lung cancers result from smoking. The longer a person smokes and the more a person smokes both increase the risk of developing lung cancer. Cigarettes are not the only culprits. Cigar and pipe smokers get lung cancer, too. If you think you're safer smoking low-tar products, think again.