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Lung Cancer:

What are the Lung Cancer Causes?

Tobacco use is responsible for almost 90% of lung cancer cases. That being said, those who have never smoked or quit long ago, may develop lung cancer as well.

Causes Images:

Common causes include radon exposure in the home, workplace chemicals such as asbestos, and environmental pollutants including secondhand smoke.

Over 85% of lung cancers are related to smoking.2 Cancer causing substances in tobacco smoke damage lung cells. Over time, these damaged cells may develop into lung cancer.Quitting smoking reduces your risk for getting cancer, and your risk continues to go down as long as you do not smoke. Even cutting down how much you smoke may reduce your risk.

The main causes of lung cancer include carcinogens, ionizing radiation, and viral infection. This exposure causes cumulative changes to the DNA in the tissue lining the bronchi of the lungs. As more tissue becomes damaged, eventually a cancer develops.

1. Cigarette smoking also contributes to lung disease, heart disease, stroke, and the development of low birth weight babies.

2. Cigarette smoking alone is directly responsible for approximately 30% of all cancer deaths annually in the United States.

Across the developed world, almost 90% of lung cancer deaths are caused by smoking.In the United States, smoking is estimated to account for 87% of lung cancer cases.Among male smokers, the lifetime risk of developing lung cancer is 17.2%; among female smokers, the risk is 11.6%.

This risk is significantly lower in nonsmokers: 1.3% in men and 1.4% in women.Cigarette smoke contains over 60 known carcinogens, including radioisotopes from the radon decay sequence,nitrosamine, and benzopyrene. But the chemicals in tobacco smoke may affect men and women differently.