Lung cancer in never smokers: clinical epidemiology and environmental risk factors.

ABSTRACT: More than 161,000 lung cancer deaths are projected to occur in the United States in 2008. Of these, an estimated 10 to 15% will be caused by factors other than active smoking, corresponding to 16,000 to 24,000 deaths annually. Thus lung cancer in never smokers would rank among the most common causes of cancer mortality in the United States if considered as a separate category. Slightly more than half of the lung cancers caused by factors other than active smoking occur in never smokers. As summarized in the accompanying article, lung cancers that occur in never smokers differ from those that occur in smokers in their molecular profile and response to targeted therapy. These recent laboratory and clinical observations highlight the importance of defining the genetic and environmental factor

SUBMITTER: Samet JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3170525 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature