Prevention, Risk Factors, Early Detection

About 90 percent of all Americans who are diagnosed with lung cancer are smokers or former smokers. 

People who have never smoked are unlikely to get lung cancer. However, living with a smoker, working in a smoky environment, or being exposed to certain chemicals increases lung cancer risk.

"Smoking one pack of cigarettes a day for 20 years increases your chances of developing lung cancer 20-fold", says Dr. Renato Martins, the head of lung cancer medical oncology at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. "Quitting, even if you have smoked for years, immediately reduces your risk."

But quitting isn't easy. Cigarettes are "highly addictive," Dr. Martins says. "Most heavy smokers start smoking in their early teens, when they are too young to know better."

Former smokers do have a higher risk of lung cancer than do people who have never smoked, but even if you have smoked for many years, it is never too late to quit. SCCA's new Smoke-Free Life Program is designed to help you quit smoking and stay that way.

Lung Cancer Early Detection and Prevention Clinic Lung cancer is the leading cause of all cancer deaths in the United States and in our state. Like most cancers, detecting it at its earliest stage provides the best opportunity for a cure. If you are a smoker, or even an ex-smoker, consider visiting SCCA’s Lung Cancer Early Detection and Prevention Clinic. Even if you have already quit smoking, you are still at risk for lung cancer and other tobacco-related lung diseases.  

Other risk factors
Second-hand smoke can cause lung cancer. If you spend eight hours a day with a smoker, your chances of developing lung cancer increase by 20 to 40 percent.

Smoking is the number one risk factor for developing lung cancer, but significant exposure to radon, asbestos, arsenic, or radioactive dust also increases your lung cancer risk.

Early Detection If you have been exposed to one of the cancer-causing agents listed above, ask your family doctor if it is appropriate for you to be screened. "Doctors are beginning to screen people at high risk of developing lung cancer with annual low-dose CT scans of the chest," says Dr. Martins.

Smoking combined with asbestos exposure increases the risk of developing lung cancer 50 to 90 times compared to a person who has neither smoked nor been exposed to asbestos, according to the American Cancer Society.

The use of CT scans to screen people who are at high risk for lung cancer is being evaluated in clinical trials, but until the results of those trials are available, it has become accepted practice to screen high-risk people.

Survival rates for lung cancer are poor—the five-year survival rate is only about 15 percent. The major reason for screening is to catch lung cancer early, when there is a better chance of curing it.

One other risk factor that researchers are looking at is a genetic predisposition to lung cancer. While we know that a family history of lung cancer is a factor in who gets lung cancer and who does not, “We have not identified the gene yet,” Dr. Martins says. “But obviously, some people smoke all their lives and don’t get lung cancer.”

Advice to smokers: Have annual screenings
Heavy smokers (someone 50 or older who has smoked a pack of cigarettes every day for 25 years or more) should discuss annual screening with their family doctor.

Don’t ignore symptoms
Catching lung cancer early improves your chances of a cure. Respiratory problems, such as a cold that won’t go away, are often the first sign.

Other symptoms may include:
- A persistent cough that lasts more than two weeks
- A chest infection that doesn’t get better
- Recurrent pneumonia or bronchitis
- Shortness of breath
- Coughing up blood
- Chest discomfort
- Loss of appetite
- Weight loss
- Neck or facial swelling
- Aching joints.

• See your doctor regularly
   If you are or were a heavy smoker, or if you have been exposed to asbestos or other chemicals that increase your risk, you should see your family doctor regularly for checkups and screening, if your doctor advises it.
• Be honest with your doctor about how much you smoke
  Your doctor cannot help you evaluate your cancer risk if you are not honest about how much you smoke and about any symptoms you may have.
• Quit smoking
  Most smokers try to quit several times before they are finally successful. So if you’ve tried and failed before, you can still succeed. Try again.

Quitting reduces your lung cancer risk, and your risk will continue to decrease the longer you don’t smoke. In addition, your overall health will improve, and you will be at less risk of other smoking-related illnesses, such as emphysema. 

Quitting benefits your family as well. Families of smokers have a number of health problems—including asthma and respiratory infections—caused by exposure to second-hand smoke. And the children of smokers are much more likely to smoke themselves than are the children of non-smokers.

SCCA's new Smoke-Free Life Program is designed to help you quit smoking and stay that way.

More information about your risk of contracting lung cancer and how to quit smoking may be found at the SCCA's Cancer Prevention Clinic. You may also want to look at Links and Resources.

 

December 2007