Lung cancer is the second most common form of cancer worldwide, leading to around 20% of cancer-related deaths. We know that smoking can cause lung cancer, but it is less known that 15–20% of cases occur in nonsmokers. Many of these are due to a nonhereditary gene mutation that develops later in life, causing a type of lung cancer called EGFR positive (EGFR+). Medical News Today spoke to a survivor of EGFR+ lung cancer, and investigated the latest developments in lung cancer research and treatment.
Not everyone who receives a lung cancer diagnosis used to be a smoker. Header design by MNT; photography by Rankin for the See through the symptoms campaign, courtesy of EGFR+ UK.
Smoking tobacco can cause lung cancer — this is an undisputed fact. Cancer Research UK — a United Kingdom nonprofit organization — reports that 72% of lung cancer cases, and 86% of lung cancer deaths, are caused by smoking.
In the United States, the
However, not all lung cancer cases can be linked to smoking. And, as the number of smoking-related lung cancers starts to decrease, non-smoking-related lung cancer cases are on the rise.
The two main types of lung cancer are small cell lung cancer (SCLC), and non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). NSCLC makes up the majority — around 80%–85% — of lung cancers.
NSCLC can be divided into
- adenocarcinoma, which starts in the mucus cells lining the airways
- squamous cell carcinoma, which tends to grow near the centre of the lungs and starts in the flat cells that cover the airway surface
- large cell…
Read the full article here