Risk Factors of Lung Cancer

Lung cancer is a life-threatening disease that kills more and more people every day. There are two types of lung cancer, non-small cell lung cancer and small cell lung cancer. Lung cancer forms a tumor in the lung, which affects the quality of the lungs and ultimately affects the amount of gas exchange possible. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common type, accounting for over 80% of cancer cases (Walker, 2008). Lung cancer mortality should be worrying and in 2012 it is estimated that lung cancer will cause about 29% of male cancer deaths and 26% of female cancer mortality.

Passive smoking is a risk factor for lung cancer and is thought to cause approximately 7,300 lung cancer deaths each year. Non smokers living in smokers (secondhand smoke) have a 20-30% chance of developing lung cancer. (Secondhand smoke is also thought to cause approximately 34,000 cardiac related deaths each year.) About 80% of sidestream smoke, smoke from burning tobacco, non smokers exposed to smoke, mainstream smoke, It accounts for the remaining 20% ​​who smokes spit. We are still learning that these differences may lead to different types of lung cancer for smokers and nonsmokers.

We know that smoking is an important risk factor for lung cancer. The risk of developing lung cancer is directly related to the "number of years" for people to smoke. The research years are calculated by multiplying the number of packages per day by the number of years of smoking. Lung cancer is now the leading cause of cancer related mortality in men and women in the United States. It is important to note that despite the fact that smoking remains the main cause of this disease, smokers are unlikely to have lung cancer. The risk of developing lung cancer is 23 times that of nonsmokers, and the probability of female smokers is 13 times that of nonsmokers. Overall, 80 to 90% of lung cancer in the United States is thought to be caused by smoking.