According to the study’s findings, between 53 and 70 percent of lung cancer diagnoses in nonsmokers worldwide in 2022 were adenocarcinomas.
According to a recent study released on World Cancer Day in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine journal, air pollution may be a contributing factor in the rise in lung cancer occurrences among nonsmokers.
According to the study’s findings, between 53 and 70 percent of lung cancer cases in non-smokers worldwide in 2022 were adenocarcinomas, which are cancers that start in the glands that generate secretions like mucus.
According to the study, adenocarcinoma had a weaker association with cigarette smoking than the other kinds of lung cancer they discovered. The percentage of lung cancer cases among non-smokers has increased as smoking rates have decreased globally.
Additionally, adenocarcinoma has emerged as the most prevalent cancer in both sexes. According to the report, adenocarcinoma accounted for 59.7% of the 9.08 lakh new cases of lung cancer in women in 2022.
In addition, particulate matter (PM) pollution was implicated in 80,378 of these cases among females.
The study was led by specialists from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).
Lung cancer cases were divided into four subcategories by the researchers using data from the Global Cancer Observatory, 2022, and other sources: adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and small- and large-cell carcinoma.
As of 2019, almost everyone on the planet resides in places with air quality that fall short of WHO criteria.
According to Freddie Bray, the head of IARC’s cancer surveillance branch and the study’s lead author, “The diverging trends by sex in recent generations offer insights to cancer prevention specialists and policy-makers seeking to develop and implement tobacco and air pollution control strategies tailored to high-risk populations.”
“Lung cancer in people who have never smoked is estimated to be the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide, occurring almost exclusively as adenocarcinoma and most commonly in women and Asian populations,” the study’s authors added.
