14 Things You Didn’t Know About Lung Cancer

Lung cancer is, by far, the leading cause of death from cancer among men and women. In fact, more people die from lung cancer than from colon, breast and prostate cancers combined. More than one quarter of all cancer deaths are due to lung cancer. And yet, it's one cancer we don't talk much about.

November is Lung Cancer Awareness month, when patient advocacy groups hope to bring more attention to deadly lung diseases. Here are some facts about it you may not know.

For starters, did you know that 89 percent of lung cancer cases were preventable?

Lung cancers are put into three main types: small cell lung cancers, non-small cell lung cancers and lung carcinoid tumors. By far, non-small cell lung cancers are most common, making up 80 to 85 percent of all lung cancers.

Around 40 percent of all lung cancers are on the rise. Before you panic, realize that they are the slower-growing cancers, including carcinoid tumors, and are more likely to be found before spreading—which means chances for survival increases.

Smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke dramatically increases your risk for developing lung cancer. The Mayo Clinic advises that prevention starts with not starting to smoke—be it cigarettes, pipes, cigars or vaping. If you're already a smoker, the next step is quitting. They also recommend finding ways to avoid secondhand smoke, such as asking a partner to stop smoking or not smoke around you or in your home.

And, don't forget to test for radon. Radon, which can't be detected without testing, is a known carcinogen and lurks in homes, particularly basements. If you are or were a smoker, your lung cancer risk greatly increases if you are exposed to radon. Testing is uncomplicated and relatively inexpensive.

Regular exercise may reduce one's risk for many health issues, including developing lung cancer. If you don't regularly move your body, find a way to start. Get in some form of exercise most days of the week. Start slow and easy, and set goals to do more.

Studies have shown that, with regard to lung cancer, exercise matters—especially if you're a smoker.

What you eat (or don't eat) also influences your risk for getting lung cancer. High sugar, processed foods are OK once in awhile. But if they make up the bulk of your diet, it's time to incorporate some changes if you're serious about lowering your risk for lung cancer.

Adding more fruits and vegetables has also been shown to lower risks. Think fresh foods and try to eat every color of the rainbow, every day.

The Mayo Clinic also advises against trying to get your vitamins from health supplements, which may actually do more harm than good, and increase your risk for lung and other types of diseases.

For those at greater risk for lung cancer, early screening has been found to be safe and effective in catching any abnormalities early. However, only low-dose CT scans have been proven to be effective, according to City of Hope.

Chest X-rays, on the other hand, are not effective.

Men have a slightly higher risk for developing lung cancer than women—including non-smokers. The lifetime risk for men is one in 13, while for women it's one in 16.

African-American men are at an even higher risk for developing lung cancers than white men. They are about 20 percent more likely to get lung cancer than white men.

For African-American women, the likelihood of developing lung cancer is about 10 percent lower than among white women.

While the lung cancer rate for men has dropped over the last decade, it has only recently begun to drop for women overall.

Two out of three patients diagnosed of lung cancer are 65 or older. And while advances in medicine have improved survival rates, people often aren't diagnosed until after the disease has spread.

Symptoms for lung cancer are often vague or non-existent until the disease has already progressed. Only 15 percent of them are found when the possibility of a cure is the greatest.

Patients diagnosed early double their chances for survival. But only screening will catch the disease early enough for treatment to be most promising.

If you or someone you think might be at risk is 55 to 80 years old and smoked at least a pack of cigarettes a day for 30 years or more, screening is advised. Same for those who currently smoke or who have quit smoking within the last 15 years.

And, if you're thinking you haven't smoked in years so you're not at risk, according to the Lung Cancer Alliance, around 60 percent of lung cancer patients quit smoking years ago or never smoked in the fist place.

Family history matters when it comes to lung cancer. An inherited DNA mutation increases your risk for developing lung cancer, even if you don't smoke or are not exposed to secondhand smoke. These mutations alone aren't considered enough to cause lung cancer, according to the American Cancer Society, but they do contribute to an overall higher risk profile.

It's never too late to quit smoking, say all lung cancer patient and health advocacy groups. For young smokers, quitting smoking before turning 30 years old reduces your risk of smoking-related disease by 90 percent. If you quit before turning 50 years old, you reduce this risk by 50 percent. And if you quit before you turn 60, you'll live longer than the smokers in your age group, according to the NCI.

For cases caught early enough, the survival rates are promising. In cases where lung cancer was detected and treated before it could spread to other organs, the rate of survival beyond five years is 55 percent.

The bad news is that only 16 percent of lung cancer cases are diagnosed at such an early stage (and usually found during screening for a different reason). If the cancer isn't detected until after it has spread to other organs, survival rate beyond five years drops dramatically—to 4 percent.