Lung Cancer Awareness Month: 5 Facts You Should Know

Lung cancer can impact everyone — not just smokers. Every year, over 4,000 British Columbians will be diagnosed with lung cancer, and 30% of lung cancer cases occur in non-smokers.

Discover five facts about the most commonly diagnosed cancer and the leading cause of cancer death in B.C. — including how your donations are fuelling life-saving research that will help BC Cancer detect lung cancer earlier and better understand risk factors in non-smokers.

1. Symptoms

Symptoms can include a prolonged cough that does not go away or gets worse, coughing up blood or rust-coloured spit or phlegm, and shortness of breath or prolonged chest pain that gets worse with deep breathing or coughing. If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, speak with a healthcare provider immediately.

2. Screening

Normally, lung cancer symptoms don’t appear until the disease is already at an advanced stage and has spread, so if you’re at high risk, it’s crucial to get screened even if you aren’t experiencing any symptoms. People between the ages of 55 and 74 years who have smoked tobacco for 20 years or more are recommended to get screened.

3. The Risks of Air Pollution 

Research at BC Cancer suggests exposure to outdoor air pollution and one of its major components, a particle called PM2.5, is the most common cause of lung cancer in people who have never smoked. Additional research found Asian women are more susceptible to developing lung cancer brought on by air pollution.

To enhance lung cancer screening practices, BC Cancer is developing a risk prediction tool to calculate a person’s cumulative exposure to PM2.5 in their lifetime.

4. Breathomics Lab 

Donor support helped establish BC Cancer’s Breathomics Lab — the first in Canada. Led by Dr. Renelle Myers, the research lab uses artificial intelligence (AI) to examine breath samples for changes in the lung’s microbiome for early cancer detection. This novel research will benefit people who do not currently meet criteria for lung cancer screening.

5. Provincial Lung Cancer Screening Program

BC Cancer launched Canada’s first-ever province-wide screening program for lung cancer, led by Dr. Stephen Lam, Distinguished Scientist and Leon Judah Blackmore Chair in Lung Cancer Research.

Our donors helped raise almost $2 million for the initiative’s start-up funding and equipment. Since its launch in 2022, the program has achieved tremendous success. It has screened more than 14,000 British Columbians at high risk of lung cancer and diagnosed 74% of cancers at earlier, more treatable stages (compared to less than 30% without screening).

Source: BC Cancer