Lung cancer is by far the leading cause of cancer death among both men and women
in the United States. Our research program has played a role in many of the prevention, screening, and treatment advances that save lives from lung cancer today. And, we continue to fund research to help save even more lives in the future.
If you smoke and have been diagnosed with cancer in the last 24 months, you may be eligible to participate in a research study that will test a smartphone app to help you quit smoking.
Learn more at: Quit2Heal.org
Smoking is by far the leading cause of lung cancer, but about 20% of people who die from lung cancer have never smoked or used any other forms of tobacco. In fact, some lung cancers occur in people without any known risk factors.
Since the early 1990s, the American Cancer Society has invested over $134 million in lung cancer research, including over $29 million for research specific to lung cancer not associated with smoking.
Smoking cigarettes is the biggest risk factor for lung cancer and causes about 80% of deaths from the disease. But people who don’t smoke can develop lung cancer too. A new study found that out of 100 people in the United States who were recently diagnosed with lung cancer, about 12 of them (12%) had never smoked cigarettes. The study was co-led by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Cancer Society (ACS). The results were published in a research letter in JAMA Oncology.
See the full highlight about smoking and lung cancer statistics.
The American Cancer Society (ACS) employs a staff of full-time researchers and funds scientists across the United States who relentlessly search for answers to help us better understand cancer, including lung cancer. Here are some highlights of their work.
“Our results clearly show harms from smoking and health benefits from quitting smoking among men and women of all racial ethnic groups and all ages, especially younger age groups.” —Farhad Islami, MD, PhD
See the highlight about Dr. Islami's published study.
“We know very little about the early events that transform a normal lung cell into a cancer cell. In this study, we were able to use tumor samples from people who had been diagnosed with an early stage of lung cancer to show that our organoids truly mimic what happens in patients at the very early stages. We can see changes in the organoids within 7 days that can take months to see in lab mice and even longer, probably years, in patients.”—Carla Kim, PhD
See the highlight about Dr. Kim's published study.
“A primary goal of my research is to develop and evaluate the impact of supportive care interventions that are tailored to the needs of patients with cancer and their caregivers throughout their illness trajectory.
“I’m using innovative delivery modalities, including mobile apps, video tools, and telehealth, to make supportive care interventions accessible outside of the cancer clinic for patients and their caregivers.
“In this pilot study with my Massachusetts General Hospital colleagues, we tested the feasibility and acceptability of virtual visits for patients with lung cancer to help achieve their best possible quality of life after their treatments had ended.” —Jennifer Temel, MD
See the highlight about Dr. Temel’s published study.
The American Cancer Society funds scientists who conduct research about cancer at medical schools, universities, research institutes, and hospitals throughout the United States. We use a rigorous and independent peer review process to select the most innovative research projects proposals to fund.
As the Senior Scientific Director of Surveillance Research at the American Cancer Society (ACS), Rebecca Siegel, MPH, analyzes data on lung cancer each year as part of the Cancer Facts & Figures report.
In our news story about the report, we said:
The outlook is more promising than ever for lung cancer at all stages of disease. In recent years, more people with lung cancer are being diagnosed when the cancer is at an early stage and living longer as a result.
The rate of localized-stage disease diagnosis increased by 4.5% yearly from 2014 to 2018, while there were steep declines in advanced disease diagnoses. The result was an overall increase in 3-year survival rates. In 2004, 21 out of 100 people diagnosed with lung cancer were living 3 years after their diagnosis. By 2018, that number had risen to 31 out of 100 people.
Increased survival is also largely due to improvements in:
“Improved lung cancer outcomes may also reflect increased access to care through the Affordable Care Act (ACA),” says Siegel, lead author of Cancer Statistics, 2022. “Plus, the ACS and USPSTF first recommended screening for lung cancer in 2013, so screening — even with low rates — still could have helped increase the diagnosis of localized-stage disease,” she says.
Key lung cancer statistics in the US include:
Find more statistics about lung cancer on the Cancer Statistics Center:
Use the analysis tool in the drop-down menu to see any of these statistics in comparison to other types of cancer.