Lung cancer cases are increasing among non-smokers, study reveals the main factor that influences it

2025-02-04 14:18:23Lifestyle SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

The percentage of people diagnosed with lung cancer who have never smoked is increasing, and the main factor for this is air pollution, according to the WHO.

Lung cancer in never-smokers is emerging almost as adenocarcinoma, which has become the most dominant of the four major subtypes of the disease in both men and women globally.

About 200,000 cases of adenocarcinoma were associated with exposure to air pollution in 2022, according to the IARC study. The study found that the majority of adenocarcinoma cases attributed to air pollution were found in East Asia, especially China.

Of the four main subtypes of lung cancer (adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, small cell carcinoma, and large cell carcinoma), adenocarcinoma has become the dominant subtype in both men and women.

Adenocarcinoma accounted for 45.6% of global lung cancer cases in men and 59.7% of global lung cancer cases in women in 2022. The corresponding figures were 39.0% and 57.1% in 2020.

According to the study, adenocarcinoma accounts for up to 70% of lung cancer cases among non-smokers.

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