Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

Risk Factors

Main risk factors of developing lung cancer include: ¹

Cigarette smoking
- including secondhand smoke
Occupational exposure to carcinogens
- tar and soot
- metals such as chromium and arsenic
Exposure to radiation
- radon gas
- x-rays
- gamma rays
Exposure to building materials
- silicates
- asbestos
Outdoor air pollution
- traffic fumes, especially diesel exhaust
Indoor air pollution
- produced by combustion for heating and cooking

All of the above risk factors may contribute to an individual’s risk for lung cancer. Though 90% of all lung cancer cases are caused by cigarette smoking, exposure to any of the above risk factors, paired with a genetic susceptibility, can lead to lung cancer. ^1,2

75% of lung cancers are NSCLC

Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) is the most common form of lung cancer and accounts for the most deaths of any cancer worldwide.² It is not one type of cancer, but an aggregate of different histologies that have been grouped together because approaches to diagnosis, staging, prognosis and treatment are similar. ³

References:
1. Alberg AJ, Samet JM. Epidemiology of lung cancer. Chest. 2003;123(suppl):21S-49S.
2. US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Respiratory health effects of passive smoking: lung cancer and other disorders. EPA Publication No. 600/006F, Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office; 1992.
3. National Cancer Institute. Non-small cell lung cancer: general information. National Institutes of Health; 2004. Available at: http://www.meb.unibonn.de. Accessed June, 2008.