LUNG CANCER!!! BY VICTORIA B 7F

Lung cancer is mainly caused by smoking cigarettes. There are other causes though but the most common is smoking. Lung cancer is a growth of abnormal cells inside the lung. These cells reproduce at a much faster rate than normal cells. The abnormal cells stick together and form a growth, known as a tumour. If the abnormal cells began growing in the lung, this is known as a primary lung tumour.

Lung cancer is the most common cause of death due to cancer in both men and women throughout the world. Almost 70% of people diagnosed with lung cancer are over 65 years of age, while less than 3% of lung cancers occur in people under 45 years of age. Lung cancer became more common after the 1930s as the amount of tobacco smokers increased.

A person who has smoked two packs of cigarettes per day for 10 years has a 20 pack-year smoking history. Pipe and cigar smoking can also cause lung cancer although the smoking a cigarette has a lot higher risk. While someone who smokes one pack of cigarettes per day has a risk for the development of lung cancer that is 25 times higher than a non-smoker, pipe and cigar smokers have a risk of lung cancer that is about five times that of a non-smoker. Cigarette smoking drastically increases the chance of developing an asbestos- related lung cancer in workers exposed to asbestos. Asbestos workers who do not smoke have a fivefold greater risk of developing lung cancer than non- smokers, but asbestos workers who smoke have a risk that is fifty- to ninetyfold greater than non-smokers.

Lung diseases Prior history of lung cancer- if you have already had lung cancer and you are a smoker you have a 6% risk of getting lung cancer again per year. If you are a non-smoker you have a 1%-2% per year additional risk of getting a second lung cancer. Air pollution

 FAST FACTS  Lung cancer is the leading cancer killer in both men and women in the United States. Lung cancer causes more deaths than the next three most common cancers combined (colon, breast and prostate). The number of deaths due to lung cancer has increased approximately 4.3 percent between 1999 and 2008 from 152,156 to 158,656. The lung cancer five-year survival rate (16.3%) is lower than many other leading cancer sites, such as the colon (65.2%), breast (90.0%) and prostate (99.9%). In recent years, cases of lung cancer have been declining among men, but the illness is increasingly common among women. Recent studies indicate that women who smoke may be more likely to develop lung cancer than men who smoke.

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