Lung cancer starts when abnormal cells grow out of control in the lungs. Lung cancer and smoking often, but not always, go hand in hand.
Facts about lung cancer in the United States
- Lung cancer is the 2nd-most common cancer.
- It is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States.
- It is estimated that 215,020 men and women (114,690 men and 100,330 women) were diagnosed with lung cancer in 2008.
- Approximately 161,840 men and women died from lung cancer in 2008.
Warning Signs
Early lung cancer often does not cause symptoms. However, as it grows, the most common symptoms include:
- A cough that gets worse or does not go away
- Trouble breathing, such as shortness of breath
- Constant chest pain
- Coughing up blood
- Hoarse voice
- Frequent lung infections, such as pneumonia
- Feeling tired all of the time
- Weight loss with no known cause
Risk factors
Risk factors for lung cancer include:
- Smoking tobacco
- Secondhand tobacco smoke
- Radon exposure
- Exposure to asbestos, radon, arsenic, chromium, nickel and other cancer-causing substances
- Air pollution
- Family history of lung cancer
- Personal history of lung cancer
- Age over 65
Find out your risk for lung cancer.
Diagnosis and screening
There is no generally accepted screening test for lung cancer. A physician may order blood tests, a chest x-ray or a CT-scan. The only sure way to test for lung cancer is for a pathologist to check samples of cells and tissue in the lungs. Life Line Screening offers a
disease risk assessment screening, called the Disease Prevention Scorecard, which predicts your risk of developing lung cancer in the next 5 years if you are a smoker.
Learn more about how the Disease Prevention Scorecard can help you understand your risk for lung cancer and other diseases, and most important, what you can do to reduce your risks.
Interested in learning more about lung cancer? Read our FAQs.
