Valley oncologist urging lung cancer screening amid concerning rise in nonsmokers

PHOENIX — A Valley oncologist is recommending people get screened for lung cancer amid a concerning rise in cases among nonsmokers.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 10-20% of lung cancers are in those who have never smoked before, totaling up to 20,000-40,000 cases a year in the U.S.

Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center oncologist Dr. Jason Niu told KTAR News 92.3 FM cases of lung cancer among nonsmokers used to be uncommon, but now doctors across the country are seeing more of the disease and women are more at risk than men.

“In general we’re seeing higher percentages of women, I’m talking about never-smoker women, who are diagnosed with lung cancer,” he said.

A study done by Lung Cancer Management last year found nearly half of the women who were diagnosed with lung cancer were never-smokers, whereas for men only 15-20% of them weren’t smokers.

Niu said medical professionals aren’t sure what the reason is behind the increase of lung cancer in nonsmokers, but that it’s typically caused by a mutation in the genes.

“For never smokers, oftentimes it’s due to driver gene mutation, in other words, there’s just a specific gene that has mutated that leads to lung cancer development,” he said.

Niu said to watch out for lung cancer symptoms which include shortness of breath, coughing up blood and weight loss.

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