Death rates have been dropping in men since 1991 and in women since 2003, thanks to less smoking
Only 15 percent of patients are diagnosed at an early stage, when five-year survival rates are 54 percent. More than half of patients are diagnosed after the cancer has metastasized, when five-year survival plummets to 4 percent.
You have a higher risk if you:
smoke or have smoked tobacco
have had long-term exposure to radon, asbestos, diesel exhaust, air pollution, or secondhand smoke
have a parent or sibling who had lung cancer
Source: Nutrition Action Health Letter May 2015