It’s hard to believe that lung cancer was ever an obscure disease: About 150 years ago, it accounted for only 1 percent of cancers. But today, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States, claiming more lives than lymphatic, prostate, and breast cancers combined.

Why the drastic jump? The glamorous images of Hollywood stars smoking—and the growth in the popularity of cigarettes—in the early 1900s are culprits. (Studies show that cigarette smoke accounts for 82 percent of lung cancer deaths.) The increasing amount of air pollution, including exposure to asbestos, radon, and other chemicals, is another factor. That’s because when you inhale these harmful particles, cancer-causing (carcinogenic) substances damage the cells that line the lungs’ interior. These cells repair themselves, but chronic exposure can cause the cells to act abnormally and become cancerous.

There are two main types of lung cancer. Small cell lung cancer, which makes up 13 percent of cases, affects mainly heavy smokers and tends to spread rapidly. Non– small cell lung cancer is an umbrella term that accounts for the rest of lung cancers. In its earliest stages, the disease doesn’t cause any symptoms. But as it progresses, it can cause a cough that doesn’t go away, shortness of breath, chest pain, wheezing, and hoarseness. Sometimes sufferers cough up blood.

To diagnose lung cancer, a physician will perform an x-ray and a tissue biopsy. Treatments for the disease include chemotherapy, radiation therapy, targeted treatments, and surgery. The sooner the disease is detected, the better: Lung cancer patients have about a 50 percent chance of surviving longer than 5 years if it’s caught—and treated—early on. If the cancer spreads, those odds drop to only 2 percent.

ADDITIONAL FACTS

  1. Lung cancer strikes more than 170,000 people a year and kills 157,000. Studies show that the rate of people dying of the disease is dropping in states with strong antitobacco programs.
  2. The link between cigarettes and lung cancer was first written about by the German physician Fritz Lickint, who then went on an antismoking campaign in Germany. He was largely ignored.