Tuesday, March 7, 2006 Last updated 6:50 p.m. PT

Lung cancer most common cancer worldwide

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Lung cancer is the world's top cancer killer and the most common cancer
worldwide, with more than 1 million new cases every year and just as many
deaths from it.

Treatments are improving and recent studies have found that chemotherapy
can help survival. But despite that progress, about 6 out of 10 people
with lung cancer die within one year of finding out they have it.

Tobacco smoke causes more than 8 out of 10 cases. However, like Dana
Reeve, 1 in 5 women diagnosed never smoked. Most lung cancers occur in
older people; only 3 percent turn up in people under 45, regardless of
smoking status.

Here is a look at the statistics:

INCIDENCE: In 2006, an estimated 174,000 new cases in the United states;
about 1.2 million worldwide.

DEATHS: About 163,000 in the United States; about 1.3 million worldwide.

SURVIVAL: At five years, 49 percent when cancer is confined to the lung;
16 percent if it has spread within the chest, and 2 percent if it has
spread to other organs.

TREATMENT: Surgery is the first choice; chemotherapy and radiation also
can be used. Chemotherapy is sometimes given before surgery to shrink
tumors.

DETECTION: No screening tests are recommended.

SYMPTOMS: Persistent cough, coughing up {*filter*}, chest pain, recurring
pneumonia.
---
Sources: American Cancer Society, World Health Organization.