1. Lung cancer is the leading cancer killer of both men and women in America.
2. Cancer of the lungs takes more lives every year than the other three leading cancer killers combined (breast, colon, and prostate).
3. Nearly 375,000 people in the U.S. are living with lung cancer.
4. 81 percent of those living with lung cancer are over the age 60. The disease ails elderly the most severely.
5. The survival rate of lung cancer is drastically less than other leading killers at 17 percent, compared to breast cancer with a survival rate of 90 percent and prostate with nearly 100 percent.
6. Only 15 percent of lung cancers are caught at an early stage. When it has spread to other organs, the survival rate drops to 3.5 percent.
7. More than half of those with lung cancer pass away within a year of diagnosis.
8. Smoking is responsible for roughly 90 percent of all cases of lung cancer.
9. Exposure to asbestos also puts one at risk for lung cancer. The combination of asbestos exposure and smoking seriously increases an individual's risk of developing it.
10. African Americans are the most prone to developing lung cancer of all ethnic and racial groups.
11. Though black women smoke fewer cigarettes than white women, their incidence rate of lung cancer is roughly equal.

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Sources: Lung [2]