It was estimated by the American Cancer Society that there would be
161,840 deaths from lung cancer in 2008 (90,810 among men and 71,030
among women), accounting for about 29% of all cancer deaths.
Additionally, it was estimated by the American Cancer Society that
there would be 215,020 new lung cancer cases diagnosed in 2008
(114,690 among men and 100,330 among women), accounting for about
15% of all cancer diagnoses. More women die each year from
lung cancer than from breast, uterine, and ovarian cancers combined.
Every hour of every day, 19 people die from lung cancer and at least
15-percent never smoked. Lung cancer is considered a silent killer,
since the disease is most often not detected until it is in a
terminal stage. (Source: American Cancer Society)
Approximately 90% of all lung cancers occur among smokers and
approximately 10% occur among non-smokers. (MLF Note: Some
recent research indicates that approximately 8% of men and 20% of
women diagnosed with lung cancer were never-smokers--see
High Rates of Lung Cancer Found for Female Non-smokers).
Passive smoking contributes to the development of lung cancer
among non-smokers and certain occupational exposures such as
asbestos exposure are also known to cause lung cancer. (Source:
National Cancer Institute)
"Although cigarette smoking is the most common cause of lung
cancer, other risk factors include industrial exposures to agents
such as asbestos, arsenic, uranium, nickel, and chromates as well
as exposures to the indoor air pollutants such as formaldehyde and
radon gas. There are a significant number of patients who do not
have the risk factors outlined above. Lung cancer is not
necessarily a self-inflicted disease by smoking. The incidence
of lung cancer in women without a history of prior smoking has
increased in recent years. Histologic types of lung
cancer are different between smokers and non-smokers. The
majority of patients with no prior smoking have a histologic
type of adenocarcinoma as opposed to either squamous cell
carcinoma or small cell carcinoma, common in patients with
prior smoking. Estrogens are known to act as tumor promoters
through a receptor-mediated mechanism in reproductive organs.
There are some reports of estrogen receptor expression in lung
cancer, and it is possible that the lung is an
estrogen-responsive organ and that women are more susceptible
to lung cancer than men, suggesting a role for estrogen in the
development of this disease." (Source:
Noah C. Choi, M.D., Distinguished
Scholar in Thoracic Oncology, Director of MGH Thoracic
Oncology Center, Head
of Thoracic Oncology Unit, Massachusetts General
Hospital)
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"How
do you discover a lung cancer while it is curable? Doctors no
longer rely nearly as much on routine annual chest X-rays in
smokers, because there are better diagnostic techniques. In my own
practice, I send everyone at special risk-particularly cigarette
smokers, past or present, for a low-dose helical CT scan of the
chest every year or two. This scan has detected several small
cancers among my patients, who subsequently were cured." (Source:
Face The Facts About Lung Cancer, by Dr. Isadore Rosenfeld, Boston
Sunday Globe, 11/9/03)
"The
best hope of curing lung cancer is finding it as early as possible.
If you are at risk, this new test (CT scan) can detect tiny spots
on your lungs years before they would even be seen on a regular
chest x-ray. These tiny spots, or nodules may be signs of early
lung cancer." (Source: The New York Early Lung Cancer Action
Program)
"Lung
cancer results in more deaths in the United States than any other
malignancy, and accounts for more cancer deaths than breast, colon,
and prostate cancer combined. Lung cancer causes no symptoms in
its earliest stages. Moreover, the five-year survival rate for
lung cancer is only 14 percent, a number that has not changed
significantly in many years. These statistics underscore the dire
need for the earliest detection possible. An effective screening
technique that detects the cancer in its initial stages may help
prevent death in the nearly 170,000 individuals diagnosed with
this disease each year." "CT screening transforms the
prognosis for lung cancer, just as mammography did for breast
cancer and the PAP test did for cervical cancer." "The
current five-year survival rate for lung cancer is only 14 percent
But that could soar to 80% if all smokers and ex-smokers received
annual CT exams and early treatment" (Source: Claudia I.
Henschke, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Radiology and Division Chief
of Chest Imaging at the New York Weill Cornell Center of New York
Presbyterian Hospital)
Spiral
computed tomography (CT) of the chest performed in middle-aged
smokers can help identify two to four times more lung cancers
than chest x-rays, with more than 70 percent of the tumors still
in Stage 1, according to an article on lung cancer in the first
issue for November (2002) of the American Thoracic Society's peer
reviewed journal, the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical
Care Medicine. (Source: Intelihealth. com [a subsidiary of Aetna]).
The
Early Lung Cancer Action Project. Study population was
1,000 symptom-free volunteers of whom 46% were female and 54%
were male. The median age of this study was 67, the median
pack years smoking was 47 and asbestos exposure was 14% of cohort.
The volunteers were considered medically able to have thoracic
surgery. Both chest x-ray and low-dose CT scan were utilized
in the study. The results of the study were as follows:
(1) the low-dose CT scan detected nodules in 233 volunteers; the
chest x-ray detected nodules in 68 volunteers. (2) High
Resolution CT scan evaluation of the volunteers in foregoing (1)
showed that 27 of the 233 volunteers (2.7%) with CT scan detected
nodules had Stage 1 resectable lung cancers, whereas 7 of the
68 volunteers (0.7%) with x-ray detected nodules had Stage 1 resectable
lung cancers. Study Conclusion was that low dose spiral
CT scan is a useful way to identify early stage lung cancer in
populations at high risk for developing lung cancer. (Source:
Lancet, July 10, 1999)
Early
Lung Cancer Detection and Treatment Strategies. "Lung
cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in both men and women
in the United States. The majority of lung cancer patients will
present with advanced disease with a very poor overall survival.
Although prior screening trials have shown no benefit from screening,
there is renewed interest in low-dose CT screening as a screening
modality for lung cancer. A high proportion of screen-detected
cancers are early stage and resectable for cure. For the majority
of these early stage patients, standard lobectomy is the treatment
of choice. New options to potentially detect and treat early stage
lung cancer will increase dramatically in the future." (Source:
Port JL, Kent M, Altorki NK, Surg Oncol. 2002; 11:191-199)
In the June 24,
2003, Personal Journal section of the Wall Street Journal, Spiral
CT Scan for early stage lung cancer detection was listed in an
article entitled: "Five Tests Worth Paying For--Health Insurance
Usually Won't Cover Them, but They Could Save Your Life"
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