Study Finds Rare Mutation Raises Never-Smokers' Lung Cancer Risk 60-Fold
Updated
Updated · The Washington Post · Oct 23
Study Finds Rare Mutation Raises Never-Smokers' Lung Cancer Risk 60-Fold
1 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Oct 23
Summary
A September study identified a rare mutation concentrated in the southeastern U.S. that leaves never-smokers about 60 times more likely to develop lung cancer.
Roughly 1 in 5 U.S. lung cancer patients have never smoked, and the disease is now the eighth leading cause of U.S. cancer deaths and fifth worldwide.
Women who have never smoked are more than twice as likely to develop lung cancer as male never-smokers, and cases are also more common in people of East Asian descent.
Current U.S. screening covers only smokers and former smokers ages 50 to 80, prompting calls for risk-based screening as never-smoker cases rise.