Five-year survival rate: 10 to 20% (most countries)[3]
Frequency
2.2 million (2020)[3]
Deaths
1.8 million (2020)[3]
Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged airway cells gain the ability to multiply unchecked, causing the growth of a tumor. Without treatment, tumors spread throughout the lung, damaging lung function. Eventually lung tumors metastasize, spreading to other parts of the body.
Early lung cancer often has no symptoms and can only be detected by medical imaging. As the cancer progresses, most people experience nonspecific respiratory problems: coughing, shortness of breath, or chest pain. Other symptoms depend on the location and size of the tumor. Those suspected of having lung cancer typically undergo a series of imaging tests to determine the location and extent of any tumors. Definitive diagnosis of lung cancer requires a biopsy of the suspected tumor be examined by a pathologist under a microscope. In addition to recognizing cancerous cells, a pathologist can classify the tumor according to the type of cells it originates from. Around 15% of cases are small-cell lung cancer (SCLC), and the remaining 85% (the non-small-cell lung cancers or NSCLC) are adenocarcinomas, squamous-cell carcinomas, and large-cell carcinomas. After diagnosis, further imaging and biopsies are done to determine the cancer's stage based on how far it has spread.
Treatment for early stage lung cancer includes surgery to remove the tumor, sometimes followed by radiation therapy and chemotherapy to kill any remaining cancer cells. Later stage cancer is treated with radiation therapy and chemotherapy alongside drug treatments that target specific cancer subtypes. Even with treatment, only around 20% of people survive five years on from their diagnosis.[4] Survival rates are higher in those diagnosed at an earlier stage, diagnosed at a younger age, and in women compared to men.
Most lung cancer cases are caused by tobacco smoking. The remainder are caused by exposure to hazardous substances like asbestos and radon gas, or by genetic mutations that arise by chance. Consequently, lung cancer prevention efforts encourage people to avoid hazardous chemicals and quit smoking. Quitting smoking both reduces one's chance of developing lung cancer and improves treatment outcomes in those already diagnosed with lung cancer.
Lung cancer is the most diagnosed and deadliest cancer worldwide, with 2.2 million cases in 2020 resulting in 1.8 million deaths.[3] Lung cancer is rare in those younger than 40; the average age at diagnosis is 70 years, and the average age at death 72.[2] Incidence and outcomes vary widely across the world, depending on patterns of tobacco use. Prior to the advent of cigarette smoking in the 20th century, lung cancer was a rare disease. In the 1950s and 1960s, increasing evidence linked lung cancer and tobacco use, culminating in declarations by most large national health bodies discouraging tobacco use.
Lungcancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lungcancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in...
types of cancer in males are lungcancer, prostate cancer, colorectal cancer, and stomach cancer. In females, the most common types are breast cancer, colorectal...
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A lungcancer vaccine is a cancer vaccine for lungcancer. Lungcancer vaccine may specifically refer to: CimaVax-EGF, the first therapeutic cancer vaccine...
original A-D stages or by TNM. Kidney cancer: uses TNM. Cancer of the larynx: Uses TNM. Liver cancer: Uses TNM. Lungcancer: uses TNM. Melanoma: TNM used. Also...
Treatment of lungcancer refers to the use of medical therapies, such as surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, percutaneous ablation, and palliative...
bronchitis), and multiple cancers (particularly lungcancer, cancers of the larynx and mouth, bladder cancer, and pancreatic cancer). It is also responsible...
Adenocarcinoma of the lung is the most common type of lungcancer, and like other forms of lungcancer, it is characterized by distinct cellular and molecular...
lung cancer awareness, reduce lungcancer mortality and end the stigma associated with lungcancer. In 2019, LCA merged with the Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer...
many forms of cancer, and causes 80% of lungcancer. Decades of research has demonstrated the link between tobacco use and cancer in the lung, larynx, head...
melanoma, lungcancer, kidney cancer, bladder cancer, head and neck cancer, and Hodgkin's lymphoma. A 2016 clinical trial for non-small cell lungcancer failed...
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bacterial pneumonia, pulmonary embolism, tuberculosis, acute asthma, lungcancer, and severe acute respiratory syndromes, such as COVID-19. Respiratory...
infections, cancer, autoimmune conditions, trauma, congenital defects, or pulmonary embolism. The most common cause of a single lung cavity is lungcancer. Bacterial...
the body. The tissue of the lungs can be affected by a number of respiratory diseases, including pneumonia and lungcancer. Chronic obstructive pulmonary...
non-small-cell lungcancer. In March 2020, it was approved for use in the United States to treat chronic fibrosing (scarring) interstitial lung diseases (ILD)...
breast cancer metastasizes to the lungs, the secondary tumor is made up of abnormal breast cells, not of abnormal lung cells. The tumor in the lung is then...
long-term survival. This cancer usually is seen peripherally in the lungs, as opposed to small cell lungcancer and squamous cell lungcancer, which both tend...
it represents a malignant cancer, especially in older adults and smokers. Conversely, 10 to 20% of patients with lungcancer are diagnosed in this way...
medication used to treat urothelial carcinoma, non-small cell lungcancer (NSCLC), small cell lungcancer (SCLC), hepatocellular carcinoma and alveolar soft part...
million deaths; 18.2% of total cancer deaths). Lungcancer is largely caused by tobacco smoke. Risk estimates for lungcancer in the United States indicate...
ranging from lungcancer to pulmonary hypertension. Common operations include anatomic and nonanatomic resections, pleurodesis and lung transplants. Though...
of possible cavitary tuberculosis or tumor such as lungcancer, or lung abscess; bronchiectasis; lung infarction; pulmonary embolism. Red, jelly-like sputum...
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