Classic Epidemiology of Lung Cancer

Lung cancer remains the highest contributor to cancer mortality worldwide. Among woman, lung cancer incidence and mortality is still increasing in many countries. The epidemiology of lung cancer is mainly determined by tobacco smoking habits during the previous decades. Other important risk factors include occupational exposures, indoor and outdoor air pollution, and chronic respiratory diseases and infections. Lung cancer in never-smokers is not an uncommon disease. Control of exposure to lung carcinogens other than tobacco has had a substantial impact in several high-risk populations. Despite important advances in lung cancer screening, primary prevention through tobacco control remains the main approach in the fight against lung cancer. Lung cancer presents a paradigm of the important of primary prevention and a reminder that scientific knowledge is not sufficient to ensure human health. Lung cancer is likely to remain a major public health problem in the 21st century.