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- Over 170,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with lung cancer each year. Approximately 163,000 will die this year.
- More Americans die each year from lung cancer than from breast, prostate, and colorectal cancers combined.
- The expected 5-year survival rate for all patients in whom lung cancer is diagnosed is 15 percent compared to 63 percent for colon, 88 percent for breast and 99 percent for prostate cancer.
- The 5-year survival rate is 49 percent for cases detected when the disease is still localized. However, only 16 percent of lung cancer cases are diagnosed at an early stage.
- About 6 out of 10 people with lung cancer die within 1 year of being diagnosed with the disease. Between 7 and 8 will die within 2 years.
- Smoking is the most important cause of lung cancer in the United States. While not all smokers develop lung cancer, more than 85% of lung cancers are smoking related.
- Other risk factors include exposure to other carcinogens such as asbestos and radon gas; exposure to second hand smoke.
- 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.
- Quitting smoking, regardless of age, significantly reduces the risk of lung cancer.
- Once a person quits smoking, his or her risk for lung cancer gradually decreases. About 15 years after quitting, the risk for lung cancer approaches the level of someone who never smoked.
- Cigarette smoke contains more than 4000 chemicals, 60 of which have been identified as causing cancer.
- A person who has had lung cancer is more likely to develop a second lung cancer than the average person is to develop a first lung cancer.
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