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Lung Cancer - A Look at the Numbers

It is a known fact that lung cancer is the second leading cause of death and the biggest cause of cancer deaths in both sexes in the West. It accounts for about 30% of all deaths from cancer. The unfortunate reality is that many of those deaths could have been prevented -- fully 85% of all lung cancers are caused by smoking. This includes those who breathe in second-hand smoke from others in the vicinity. If everyone were to give up smoking, the incidence of lung cancer would drop dramatically. After smoking, radon exposure is the second most common cause of lung cancer in America. The US Environmental Protection Agency estimates that about 21,000 deaths are caused every year by radon exposure. Among various ethnic groups, the incidence of lung cancer is highest among African Americans. This is because of a high cultural propensity among this group to take up the smoking habit. This is also one of the deadliest forms of cancer around. To give some comparative statistics, the five-year