November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month

JOIN WITH THE AACR TO FIND BETTER WAYS TO PREVENT AND TREAT LUNG CANCER

Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer death in the United States for both men and women. More men die of lung cancer than the next two most deadly types of cancer for men (prostate and colorectal) combined. More women die of lung cancer (an estimated 59,280 deaths in 2024) than breast cancer (an estimated 42,250).

According to estimates by the National Cancer Institute, 234,580 patients will receive a diagnosis of lung or bronchus cancer in the United States in 2024. Some 125,070 patients will die of the disease.  

Smoking is the most common cause of lung cancer in the United States. Cigarette smoking causes 80% to 90% of lung cancer deaths, according to experts. Other risk factors for lung cancer include being exposed to secondhand smoke; having a family history of lung cancer; being treated with radiation therapy to the breast or chest; exposure to asbestos, chromium, nickel, arsenic, soot, or tar in the workplace; and exposure to radon. When smoking is combined with other risk factors, the risk of lung cancer increases.

Forms of lung cancer

There are two main forms of lung cancer—small cell lung cancer and non-small cell lung cancer. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the more common form of the disease, accounting for about 80% of diagnosed cases. The most common subtypes of NSCLC are:

  • squamous cell carcinoma, which begins in the thin, flat squamous cells;
  • large cell carcinoma;
  • adenocarcinoma.

About 10% to 15% of all lung cancer cases are small cell lung cancer (SCLC). This is a fast-growing, aggressive disease with poor outcomes. Unfortunately, most patients with SCLC are diagnosed with extensive stage disease. That means it has spread beyond the lung and the area between the lungs to other lymph nodes or other parts of the body. Overall, 5% to 10% of patients with SCLC are alive five years after diagnosis.

Screening recommendation

Current guidelines recommend annual screening with low-dose CT scan in adults aged 50 to 80 who have a 20-pack-year smoking history and currently smoke or stopped smoking within the past 15 years. Specifically, a pack-year is the number of packs of cigarettes smoked per day times the number of years smoking. Thus, someone who smoked one pack per day for 20 years has a 20-pack-year smoking history.

stories of one person’s experience

  • Phuong Ho, MD, thought she was developing asthma and was surprised to learn she had lung cancer instead. Read her story in the AACR Cancer Disparities Progress Report.
  • “The bottom line is anyone with lungs can get lung cancer,” says Daniel West about his diagnosis and treatment. His story is in the AACR Cancer Disparities Progress Report.

action on smoking and lung cancer

Because of the potential impact of cigarette smoking and e-cigarette usage on cancer incidence and mortality, the AACR supports necessary measures to reduce these behaviors. Read more on the AACR blog, Cancer Research Catalyst: Supporting Tobacco Cessation on World Lung Cancer Day—and Beyond.

What the AACR is Doing in LunG Cancer Research

The AACR is active in supporting lung cancer research. Grant-supported research projects and other AACR initiatives in this area include:

  • Verra Ngwa, PhD, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, received the 2024 AACR-Lung Cancer Initiative at Johnson & Johnson START (Stimulating Therapeutic Advances through Research Training) Grant. Her project is “Investigating the role of metabolic genes in adoptive T-cell therapy.”

Grants in 2023 included:

  • AACR Career Development Award in Lung Cancer Research to Lindsay M. LaFave, PhD, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, for “Investigating chromatin plasticity in lung cancer evolution.”
  • AACR Career Development Award in Lung Cancer Research to Alexandre Reuben, PhD, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, for “T cell receptor engineering for the treatment of lung cancer.”
  • AACR Maximizing Opportunity for New Advancements in Research in Cancer (MONARCA) Grants for Latin America to Javiera Garrido, MSc, PhD, Universidad de Desarrollo, Chile, for “Factors affecting tumor variability and clinical progression in lung cancer.”

Earlier, an AACR grant assisted Patrick Ma, MD, in his research on mutations in the MET gene in lung cancer. He is now leader of the multidisciplinary thoracic oncology disease team at the Penn State Cancer Institute. His discoveries helped lay the basis for a new targeted therapy for metastatic NSCLC patients with that mutation.

for more information

For more information, including guidance on prevention, screening, and treatment, please see our page on Lung Cancer.