# How likely is lung cancer among non-smokers? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 22, 2011, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-likely-is-lung-cancer-among-non-smokers/600486 "2011-10-22T23:58:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2011, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-likely-is-lung-cancer-among-non-smokers/600486/21 "2011-10-24T02:09:09Z")
Here’s a chart of lung cancer death rates since 1930. It goes up the advent of smoking, peaks, and is now declining. Note how low it was in 1930. [http://wm55.inbox.com/thumbs/49\_130b75\_9c61dd\_oG.gif.thumb](http://wm55.inbox.com/thumbs/49_130b75_9c61dd_oG.gif.thumb) Original source: Cancer Facts and Figures 2010, p.2-3 of the linked pdf. [http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/news/annual-report-us-cancer-death-rates-still-declining](http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/news/annual-report-us-cancer-death-rates-still-declining) ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2011, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-likely-is-lung-cancer-among-non-smokers/600486/22 "2011-10-24T02:15:41Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > Didn’t lung cancer also get 35 years old and never smoked Andy Kaufman? Maybe not the same, as I imagine he didn’t really inhale the smoke like an average smoker would, but when Kaufman was in character as his Lounge Lizard alter-ego Tony Clifton, he was constantly chain-smoking, at least if the bio-pic “Man On The Moon” was accurate on this point… ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2011, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-likely-is-lung-cancer-among-non-smokers/600486/23 "2011-10-24T15:20:43Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Associations have been found. From a 2010 Medscape article which does not allow direct link access: > > _"Nonsmokers account for 10% to 15% of lung cancer cases in Europe and North America, 30% to 40% of cases in Asian countries, and 53% of all cases in women. "_ I am surprised by these statistics. Given that [50%-70% of men smoke in China](http://factsanddetails.com/china.php?itemid=140&catid=11&subcatid=74) having only 60%-70% of cancer cases being smokers is unexpected. Perhaps it was for a selected study. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2011, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-likely-is-lung-cancer-among-non-smokers/600486/24 "2011-10-24T16:50:31Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > I am surprised by these statistics. Given that [50%-70% of men smoke in China](http://factsanddetails.com/china.php?itemid=140&catid=11&subcatid=74) having only 60%-70% of cancer cases being smokers is unexpected. Perhaps it was for a selected study. Or perhaps as bad as tobacco is other exposures are even worse. For example, just exposure to [smoke from](http://www.sciencemag.org/content/235/4785/217.short) [indoor coal fires](http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969705007679)used for cooking and heating. (Not to mention other pollution.) ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-likely-is-lung-cancer-among-non-smokers/600486/25 "2011-10-26T02:46:22Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Without getting into the subject of second hand smoke, I’ll just mention that other diseases related to smoking far surpass lung cancer as a reason not to smoke. Lung cancer was chosen as the poster boy for anti-smoking simply as a scare tactic. It’s also a much clearer-cut (especially in the case of small-cell lung cancer) connection and one with fewer confounders, so it made a good poster-child. There was a lot of resistance (fuelled by the tobacco industry and doctors’ skepticism) to the initial studies showing the dangers of smoking. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-likely-is-lung-cancer-among-non-smokers/600486/26 "2011-10-26T14:47:20Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > What are the genetic factors and can I be tested to see if I have them? I don’t know if there is any kind of test, beyond an extended family history. A woman I knew slightly through work, same age as I was, died of lung cancer at about age 30. She’d never smoked, her family had never smoked, but apparently at least one near relative (her mother?) had also had lung cancer not tied to smoking. I wouldn’t be surprised if non-smokers with cancer have families that have higher incidences of cancer in general, but that is truly just speculation on my part. My mother died of lung cancer but she WAS a smoker for 55 years, and spent a lot of time in the basement of our house (which when we sold it, was discovered to have radon levels high enough to require remediation). So in her case it was not so much a matter of _whether_, but _when_. You can obviously avoid other risk factors - if you live in a house with a basement, get a radon test kit and take whatever action you need to if the radon levels are high enough. Avoid situations where you’re exposed to a lot of secondhand smoke or other particulate matter. Don’t go to work in an asbestos mine. Etc. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-likely-is-lung-cancer-among-non-smokers/600486/27 "2011-10-26T14:49:00Z")
Oh - from above "30% to 40% of cases in Asian countries, and 53% of all cases in women. " - the person I referred to was obviously a woman - but she was also of Asian descent (Chinese, I think). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-likely-is-lung-cancer-among-non-smokers/600486.md?page=1)