Lung cancer is a potentially deadly diagnosis, and the leading preventable cause of it is smoking.  You can get lung cancer if you don't smoke, but smoking vastly increases your chances of developing it.

Most lung cancer is detected in advanced stages where there's a very small chance of long term survival with today's arsenal of treatments.  Stage I lung cancer is when the tumor is very small and has not spread. At this stage the cancer could be cured with surgical removal. Recent studies have shown that CT scanning can detect lung cancers at an earlier stage but it is not yet proved that screening for lung cancer in asymptomatic high risk individuals improves prognosis or saves lives. Studies are now underway to prove or disprove whether CT scanning and early detection can actually reduce lung cancer deaths.

With lung cancer, "smoking cessation" can be considered equivalent to "prevention."  That's because the overwhelming majority of lung cancers – in fact, greater than 85 percent – are caused by cigarette smoking.

Unfortunately, despite all accumulated knowledge on the subject recent polls indicate that:

• Many smokers continue to believe that cigarettes will not cause them harm. 
• Many ex-smokers believe that they're no longer at risk for lung cancer.

The above are dangerous misperceptions.  Here's the truth:

• Cigarette smoke contains about 4,000 chemical agents, including over 60 carcinogens.
• A person who smokes more than 1 pack of cigarettes per day has a risk of developing lung cancer 20-25 times greater than someone who has never smoked.
• A smoker's risk of developing lung cancer is related to the following:
• The number of cigarettes smoked
• The age at which a person started smoking
• The depth of inhalation
• The intensity of smoking (the size and frequency of puffs)
• Men who smoke cigars increase their risk of lung cancer fivefold compared to nonsmokers and risk increases the more they smoke (three or more cigars a day equals a 7.8 times greater risk). Inhaled cigar smoke results in 11.3 times the risk.
• Passive smoking, or sidestream smoke, presents another risk for lung cancer. A person living with a smoker has twice the risk of lung cancer of someone not regularly exposed to smoke.  The result is 3,000 lung cancer deaths among U.S. nonsmokers each year.
• Once a person quits smoking, his or her risk for lung cancer gradually decreases although it never reaches that of a lifelong nonsmoker.