MCA Staff Writers

The United States Center for Disease Control noted that in 2007, the last year for which accurate figures are available, more than 158,000 people in the United States died of lung cancer. The risk of developing the disease, they note, increases with age and is greater in men than in women. Though the incidence of the disease has indeed decreased in the last decade, lung cancer still remains a major concern…especially for medical professionals such as Dr. Anne Tsao who – each day – sees the ravages of the disease firsthand.

As part of lung cancer awareness month, the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance is attempting to shed light on some lesser known facts about the disease, including its causes, potential new treatments, and challenges in attaining funding for lung cancer treatment and research. In this post we'd like to explore lung cancer causes. While cigarette smoking remains the number one cause of lung cancer, there are others risk factors many may not be aware of that have nothing to do with smoking. Knowing all the risk factors can help us as we try to finally eradicate this difficult disease. Let's explore each risk factor in detail below.

Each year in America, approximately 160,000 men and women die of lung cancer and the disease remains the leading cause of cancer deaths for both sexes. Long linked to smoking, though not exclusively, lung cancer continues to devastate families, never discriminating between young and old. It can also be an extremely difficult cancer to tackle and researchers are consistently searching for new and better ways to address the disease.