Lung Cancer & Non-smokers

This World Cancer Awareness Month, let’s take a close look at the link between…

- Dr Vivek Nangia

Lung cancer is one of the commonest cancers in the world. It accounts for more cancer deaths than any other cancer. It is increasingly being recognized in India and in recent years has surpassed the earlier commonest form of cancer, that of oropharynx, to become the commonest malignancy in males.

The major risk factor for developing lung cancer is tobacco use and this disease is often viewed solely as a smoker’s disease. However, a significant number of patients with lung cancer have no history of smoking. According to the data available, as many as 20 % of the lung cancer patients in the Western countries and almost 50 % of the lung cancer patients in India are non-smokers. In fact, it is so common in non-smokers also that if lung cancer in non-smokers had its own separate category, it would rank among the top 10 fatal cancers.