Epidemiology

Lung cancer represents 12.2% of all new cancer diagnoses and is the leading cause of cancer mortality in the US.[6] An estimated 238,340 people are expected to be diagnosed with, and 127,070 are expected to die from, lung cancer in the US in 2023.[6]​ Age-adjusted incidence (SEER 2016-2020) is higher in males than in females (56.4 new cases per 100,000 vs. 45.3 cases per 100,000, respectively); incidence rates in the US are highest in black and non-Hispanic white people and lowest in Native Americans, Hispanics, and Asian/Pacific Islanders.[6]

The incidence of lung cancer appears to change in parallel with the rate of tobacco use. Lung cancer rates increased dramatically during the mid-1900s, a few decades following the rapid rise in tobacco use. Declines in the incidence of lung cancer (approximately 2% decrease per year since the mid-2000s in the US and 6.5% decrease in age-standardized incidence globally between 2010 and 2019) may relate to reductions in tobacco use.[7][8] The incidence of lung cancer in men began to decline in the 1980s and in women it began to decline over 10 years later, in the late 1990s. This difference is attributable to historical gender differences in rates of cigarette smoking over time.[7] The declining incidence of lung cancer has decreased the overall mortality rate. Small cell lung cancers account for approximately 15% of all lung cancers and nearly all small cell lung cancers are attributable to cigarette smoking.[9][10][11]

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