Lung Cancer Statistics

Anyone with lungs can get lung cancer

• One in 18 people in the US will be diagnosed with lung cancer in their lifetime.¹
• More than 234,000 people in the US will be diagnosed with lung cancer this year, with a new diagnosis every 2.2 minutes.¹
• It is estimated that close to 65% of all new lung cancer diagnoses are among people with no tobacco exposure or only past tobacco exposure.²
• About 12% of new lung cancer cases are among people with no tobacco exposure.²

Lung cancer is a major public health problem

• Lung cancer accounts for 12% of all new cancer diagnoses but 20% of all cancer deaths.¹
• Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death, regardless of gender, taking about 125,000 American lives each year.¹
• More lives are lost to lung cancer than to colorectal and pancreatic cancers combined.¹
• Lung cancer has been the leading cancer killer of women since 1987, killing almost 1.4 times as many women as breast cancer.^1,3
• Only 27% of all people diagnosed with lung cancer will survive 5 years or more.¹

We are getting better at finding and treating lung cancer  

• If lung cancer is caught early before it spreads, 64% of all people diagnosed with lung cancer will survive 5 years or more.¹  
• As of October 3, 2024, 90 different treatment approaches have been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of lung cancer.⁴  

Lung cancer research needs investment that matches the impact of the disease

Only 6% of federal government dollars spent on cancer research are spent on lung cancer research.⁵