Lung cancer risks in never smokers under recognized

Air pollution is an overlooked  risk factor for lung cancer 
 – Image Wikipedia Creative Commons copyright.

CANCER DIGEST – April 27, 2019 – About 30,000 Americans who have never smoked die of lung cancer each year, according to the American Cancer Society. 

Now a group of British respiratory therapists and public health experts are calling for greater recognition of lung cancer in never-smokers.

In review of lung cancer deaths, the researchers found that the emphasis on smoking and lung cancer has inadvertently contributed to less attention being paid to lung cancer than breast, prostate and ovarian cancers, resulting in other significant causes of lung cancer being overlooked. Their comments were published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.

"For too long having lung cancer has only been thought of as a smoking related disease," Lead author Professor Paul Cosford, director for health protection and medical director for Public Health England said in a press release. "This remains an important association but, as this this work shows, the scale of the challenge means there is a need to raise awareness with clinicians and policy makers of the other risk factors including indoor and outdoor air pollution.

In their article the authors cite a number of risk factors other than smoking for lung cancer, including second-hand smoke, smoke from indoor cooking, occupational carcinogens, and outdoor pollution. The researchers concluded that as a result of these under recognized risk factors, people who have never smoked do not believe they are at risk and often experience long delays in diagnosis and treatment.

Read more ...

Source: "Lung cancer under-recognized in people who have never smoked." ScienceDaily, 26 April 2019.