causes of lungs cancer

Smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer. Research so far as the 1950s clearly established this relationship.

Cigarette smoke contains over 4000 chemicals, many of which have been identified as causing cancer.

A person who smokes more than a pack of cigarettes a day have a higher risk of 20-25 times the lung cancer development than someone who never smoked.

When a person quits smoking, the risk of his lung cancer gradually decreases. Some 15 years after quitting, reduce the risk of lung cancer in a person who never smoked.

Smoking cigars and pipes increases the risk of lung cancer, but not as much as cigarettes.

About 90% of lung cancers occur because of snuff. The risk of developing lung cancer is related to the following factors:

The number of cigarettes smoked

The age a person started smoking

How long a person has smoked (or smoked before stopping)

Other causes of lung cancer, including causes of lung cancer in nonsmokers, are:

Secondhand smoke or passive smoking is another risk for lung cancer. Some 3,000 deaths from lung cancer each year in the United States that are attributable to passive smoking.

Air pollution from vehicles, factories and other sources, probably increases the risk of lung cancer, and many experts believe that prolonged exposure to polluted air is similar to prolonged exposure to passive smoking in terms of risk of developing cancer lung.

Exposure to asbestos increases the risk of lung cancer nine times. A combination of exposure to asbestos and smoking increases the risk of up to 50 times. Another type of cancer called mesothelioma (a cancer of the lining of the chest cavity, pleura, or lining of the abdominal cavity, the peritoneum) is also strongly associated with exposure to asbestos.

Lung diseases such as tuberculosis (TB) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), also create a risk of lung cancer. A person with COPD may have a four to six times more than lung cancer, although the effect of smoking are excluded.

Radon exposure is another risk.

Radon is a byproduct of naturally occurring radium, which is a product of uranium.

Radon is present in indoor and outdoor environments.

The risk of lung cancer increases with significant long-term exposure to radon, but do not know the exact risk. It is estimated that 12% of lung cancer deaths attributable to radon, about 21,000 lung cancer deaths per year in terms of radon in the United States is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States after smoking . As with asbestos exposure, smoking increases the risk of lung cancer with radon exposure.

Certain occupations, where exposure to arsenic, chromium, nickel, aromatic hydrocarbons, and ethers occurs may increase the risk of developing lung cancer.

A person who has had lung cancer are more likely to develop a second lung cancer than the average person is to develop an initial lung cancer.