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Aside from non-melanoma skin cancer, lung cancer is the second most common cancer for all males in the United States. Among females, lung cancer is the second most common cancer among white and American Indian/Alaska Native females and the third most common cancer among black, Asian/Pacific Islander, and Hispanic females.

Nonsmokers exposed to secondhand smoke at home or work increase their risk of developing heart disease by 25 to 30 percent and lung cancer by 20 to 30 percent. The finding is of major public health concern because nearly half of all nonsmoking Americans still are exposed to secondhand smoke regularly.

Secondhand smoke exposure can cause heart disease and lung cancer in nonsmoking adults and is a known cause of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), respiratory problems, ear infections, and asthma attacks in infants and children, the report finds.

"We see about 3,000 lung cancer deaths in nonsmoking people a year. But the cardiovascular effects are about 15 times larger. We estimate at a minimum 35,000 to as high as 50,000 to 60,000 people die each year from heart attacks and strokes after being exposed to secondhand smoke. These are people with diseased arteries. Those disease spots are vulnerable to the effects of the toxins in smoke," says Terry Pechacek, PhD, Associate Director for Science in CDC's Office on Smoking and Health.

The financial costs of lung cancer are high. A recent study estimated that the cost of treating lung cancer in the United States in 1996 was about five billion dollars per year (see Costs of Cancer Care). This made it one of the most expensive cancers to treat in the country.

Childhood harms can lead to lung cancer

Adverse events in childhood have been associated with an increase in the likelihood of developing lung cancer in later life. Scientists writing in the open access journal BMC Public Health describe how the link is partly explained by raised rates of cigarette smoking in victims of childhood trauma, but note that other factors may also be to blame. David Brown and Robert Anda, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, USA,........Go to the Lung-cancer-blog (Added on 1/19/2010 8:31:22 AM)

Destruction of a tumor suppressor

Scientists from the Indiana University School of Medicine and his colleagues at the University of Texas Southwestern and Case Western University have determined how the protein Mdm2, which is elevated in late-stage cancers, disables genes that suppress the growth of tumors. The finding may lead to the development of new drugs for late stage breast cancer and other difficult to treat malignancies. The researchers have identified a critical........Go to the Lung-cancer-blog (Added on 12/8/2009 8:41:18 AM)

Lung cancer overall survival rates improving

Research released in the December 2009 issue of the Journal of Thoracic Oncology sought to determine whether the survival improvement among patients with metastatic lung cancer has improved over the last two decades as reported in controlled clinical trials. Scientists performed an analysis of over 100,000 patients with stage IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) identified through the SEER database to evaluate trends in survival between........Go to the Lung-cancer-blog (Added on 12/1/2009 8:30:01 AM)

Women more vulnerable to tobacco carcinogens

Women appears to be more vulnerable than men to the cancer-causing effects of smoking tobacco, as per new results reported this week at the European Multidisciplinary Conference in Thoracic Oncology (EMCTO), Lugano, Switzerland. Swiss scientists studied 683 patients with lung cancer who were referred to a cancer centre in St Gallen between 2000 and 2005 and found women tended to be younger when they developed the cancer, despite having........Go to the Lung-cancer-blog (Added on 5/4/2009 5:22:30 AM)

Controlling indoor radiation to improve lung cancer risk

About 1100 people each year die in the UK from lung cancer correlation to indoor radon, but current government protection policies focus mainly on the small number of homes with high radon levels and neglect the 95% of radon related deaths caused by lower levels of radon, as per a research studypublished on bmj.com today. The authors argue that installing basic and cheap measures to prevent radon in all new homes would be more cost-effective........Go to the Lung-cancer-blog (Added on 1/6/2009 9:07:57 PM)

Pazopanib shrinks lung cancers before surgery

Pazopanib, a new oral angiogenesis inhibitor, has demonstrated interesting activity in difficult to treat non-small-cell lung cancer, US researchers report. In a phase II trial, 30 out of 35 patients treated with preoperative pazopanib for a minimum of two weeks saw their tumor size shrink by up to 85%. "This is a positive result that will be explored further," said Prof. Nasser Altorki from Weil Medical College of Cornell University in........Go to the Lung-cancer-blog (Added on 9/16/2008 10:19:38 PM)

Tobacco industry manipulated cigarette menthol content

Menthol cigarette brands have been rising in popularity with adolescents, and the highest use has been among younger, newer smokers. Scientists at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) explored tobacco industry manipulation of menthol levels in specific brands and found a deliberate strategy to recruit and addict young smokers by adjusting menthol to create a milder experience for the first time smoker. Menthol masks the harshness and........Go to the Lung-cancer-blog (Added on 7/16/2008 9:00:23 PM)

Researchers ID gene linked to lung cancer

Scientists at Johns Hopkins, as part of a large, multi-institutional study, have found one gene variant that is associated with an increased risk of lung cancer. The study would be reported in the April 3 issue of Nature Genetics. The research team collected DNA from 1,154 smokers who have lung cancer and 1,137 smokers without lung cancer. Each DNA sample was analyzed at more than 300,000 points, looking for variationsknown as single........Go to the Lung-cancer-blog (Added on 4/2/2008 10:14:32 PM)

Cannabis based medicines may help smokers to quit

Smokers trying to quit in the future could do it with the help of cannabis based medicines, as per research from The University of Nottingham. Teams of pharmacologists, studying the cannabis-like compounds which exist naturally in our bodies (endocannabinoids), are exploring the potential for medical therapy. This includes treating conditions as diverse as obesity, diabetes, depression and addiction to substances like nicotine. ........Go to the Lung-cancer-blog (Added on 3/9/2008 5:18:29 PM)

PET Outperforms CT In Malignant Lung Nodules

Researchers involved in a large, multi-institutional study comparing the accuracy of positron emission tomography (PET) and computed tomography (CT) in the characterization of lung nodules found that PET was far more reliable in detecting whether or not a nodule was malignant. "CT and PET have been widely used to characterize solitary pulmonary nodules (SPNs) as non-cancerous or malignant," said James W. Fletcher, professor of radiology at........Go to the Lung-cancer-blog (Added on 2/6/2008 9:24:09 PM)

Cells That Promote Formation of Lethal Lung Metastases

Cancer patients commonly ask what can be done after a primary tumor has already spread, or metastasized, to other organs. In a number of cases, they learn, little can be done. Hence the importance of a discovery by researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) of a type of cell that regulates the transformation of small, dormant lung metastases into large, aggressive metastases - the kind that kill cancer patients. The cells that........Go to the Lung-cancer-blog (Added on 1/10/2008 10:33:48 PM)

Improving the prognosis of lung cancer

A group of researchers led by Professor Xavier Pars of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Universitat Autnoma de Barcelona, has published a research on AKR1B10, an enzyme that is detected in large quantities only in lung cancers, especially those caused by smoking. This enzyme can appear even when the cancer has still not developed and lesions are premalignant. Thus this molecule would serve as a good marker in the........Go to the Lung-cancer-blog (Added on 1/8/2008 5:13:29 AM)

Coal from mass extinction era linked to lung cancer mystery

The volcanic eruptions thought responsible for Earth's largest mass extinction which killed more than 70 percent of plants and animals 250 million years ago is still taking lives today. That's the conclusion of a newly released study showing, for the first time, that the high silica content of coal in one region of China appears to be interacting with volatile substances in the coal to cause uncommonly high rates of lung cancer. The study,........Go to the Lung-cancer-blog (Added on 1/6/2010 4:29:38 PM)

Identifying high risk people for lung cancer

A study featured in the recent issue of the Journal of Thoracic Oncology confirms the success of a simple questionnaire designed to identify patients at high risk of lung cancer. Initiated in 2001, the current study confirmed 18 cases of cancer of the original 430 patients who qualified as high risk after completing a five-minute questionnaire. The study was conducted in primary care doctor offices among patients seeking care for general........Go to the Lung-cancer-blog (Added on 11/2/2009 8:51:13 AM)

Genes that increases risk of lung cancer

A recent study reported in the October 2009 issue of the Journal of Thoracic Oncology determined that variations of specific genetic markers identified in prior research, or SNPs, may indicate a greater lung cancer risk in African Americans than in whites. The genes CHRNA3 and CHRNA5 may contribute to lung cancer risk due directly or through their association with nicotine dependence. Eventhough their presence is less frequent in African........Go to the Lung-cancer-blog (Added on 10/1/2009 7:02:38 AM)

Racial disparities in the treatment of lung cancer

Black patients suffering from lung cancer are less likely to receive recommended chemotherapy and surgery than white patients with lung cancer, a disparity that shows no signs of lessening. That is the conclusion of a newly released study reported in the May 15, 2009 issue of CANCER, a peer-evaluated journal of the American Cancer Society. The study's findings indicate that efforts are needed to provide appropriate therapys for black patients........Go to the Lung-cancer-blog (Added on 4/13/2009 1:25:24 PM)

Tobacco smuggling is killing more people than illegal drugs

Tobacco smuggling causes around 4,000 premature deaths a yearfour times the number of deaths caused by the use of all smuggled illegal drugs put togetherbut the UK government is not doing enough to tackle the problem, claim experts on bmj.com today. Professor Robert West from the Cancer Research UK Health Behaviour Research Centre and his colleagues argue that more smokers would quit if cigarettes cost more, but at around half the price,........Go to the Lung-cancer-blog (Added on 10/9/2008 10:36:27 PM)

Perceived access to cigarettes predicts youth smoking

Washington, DC Kids who see cigarettes as easily accessible are more likely to end up as regular smokers, especially if they have friends who smoke, as per a new report reported in the current issue of Annals of Family Medicine The study, funded by the Substance Abuse Policy Research Program (SAPRP) of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, could be valuable to smoking intervention efforts by allowing health professionals to identify and target........Go to the Lung-cancer-blog (Added on 7/14/2008 9:45:07 PM)

Genetic mutation and risk of lung cancer

Carriers of a common genetic disorder previously associated with lung disease may have a 70-percent to 100-percent increased risk of lung cancer, as per a report in the May 26 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. The disorder, alpha1-antitrypsin deficiency (1ATD), is one of the most common genetic conditions affecting the U.S. population and particularly those of European descent, as per background........Go to the Lung-cancer-blog (Added on 5/26/2008 8:08:14 PM)

New method to test for lung cancer

Scientists from Boston University School of Medicine have developed a new clinicogenomic model to accurately test for lung cancer. The model combines a specific gene expression for lung cancer as well as clinical risk factors. These findings currently appear on-line in the journal Cancer Prevention Research. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States and the world, with more than one million deaths worldwide........Go to the Lung-cancer-blog (Added on 4/1/2008 9:08:51 PM)

Surgery for lung cancer better att teaching hospitals

Patients cared for by hospitals with residents in training have a 17 percent less chance of dying after lung cancer surgery compared with patients undergoing surgery at non-teaching hospitals, as per results of a Johns Hopkins study reported in the recent issue of the Annals of Thoracic Surgery. Theres a public perception that teaching hospitals can be dangerous places because of training issues, and concerns are frequently voiced by........Go to the Lung-cancer-blog (Added on 3/4/2008 5:22:19 PM)

Number of Russian women smokers has doubled

In 1992, seven per cent of women smoked, compared to almost 15 per cent by 2003. In the same period, the number of men who smoke has risen from 57 per cent to 63 per cent. The researchers behind the study, published in the journal Tobacco Control, blame the privatisation of the previously state owned tobacco industry and the behaviour of the transnational tobacco companies (TTCs) for what they describe as a "very worrying increase". ........Go to the Lung-cancer-blog (Added on 1/28/2008 10:57:54 PM)

Smoking rate among New York City teens

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, and Consumer Affairs Commissioner Jonathan Mintz released new data today from the 2007 New York City Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) showing that cigarette smoking among New York City teens declined by 20 percent between 2005 and 2007. The citys teen smoking rate has dropped by more than half over the past six years, from 17.6 percent in 2001 to 8.5 percent in 2007. The........Go to the Lung-cancer-blog (Added on 1/2/2008 10:47:32 PM)

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