Lung cancer

Abstract Lung cancer remains the commonest killing cancer in both men and women in the developed world, and is increasingly common in developing countries, although as a result of decreased tobacco consumption in Western countries there has been a considerable reduction in the incidence among men over the last 20 years, and a slowing down in incidence in women over the last few years. Nevertheless, lung cancer is a greater cause of mortality in women than breast cancer in Western countries. There are several important industrial associations with lung cancer, in particular asbestos, but tobacco remains by far the most important cause. There are four main cell types of lung cancer, of which adeno-, squamous, and large-cell varieties comprise non-small cell lung cancer, with the more aggressive type—small cell—being regarded as a separate entity from the point of view of treatment.