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About Lung Cancer
Could you be at risk for lung cancer?
If you've smoked heavily or have smoked for many years, the answer is "yes."
Smoking puts you at risk even if you no longer smoke or do not have any
symptoms. There's no doubt about it--cigarette smoking can cause lung cancer.
In fact, cigarette smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer. Every year,
more than 169,000 people in the United States get lung cancer, and more than
154,000 people die from this disease. Lung cancer is the leading cause of
cancer death for men and women.
Your risk of lung cancer depends on how many cigarettes and how long you've
smoked. Quitting reduces the risk, but half of all lung cancers occur in former
smokers. See the publication
What You Need To Know About Lung Cancer
for more information about this disease.
Because the impact that smoking has on lung cancer is significant, the U.S.
Surgeon General has called for cutting smoking rates in half by 2010. For more
information about smoking cessation and other lung prevention issues, see
Lung Cancer: Prevention, Genetics, Causes.
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