- Lung cancer is the most common cancer in the world with 1.3 million new cases diagnosed every year[i]
- Lung cancer is the UK’s biggest cancer killer. It is the most common cause of death from cancer for both men and women, claiming over 36,000 lives each year[ii]
- Lung cancer is responsible for 24% of all male cancer deaths and 18% of all female cancer deaths in the UK[iii]
- The average survival from diagnosis to death in the UK is just six months[iv] – 80% of people with lung cancer die within a year of being diagnosed[v]
- Only 20% of people are alive one year after being diagnosed with lung cancer[vi]
- The five year survival rate for men is 6.3% and 7.5% for women[vii]
- Only 3% of all money spent on cancer research in this country goes towards lung cancer[viii]
- Lung cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in the UK in both men and women[ix]
- More women die from lung cancer than from breast cancer: in 2004,13,000 female deaths were due to lung cancer compared to 12,400 deaths due to breast cancer, and this gap has widened since 1999[x]
- Recent studies indicate that women are more susceptible to developing lung cancer than men[xi] and recent findings show the incidence of lung cancer is falling in men but has been rising in women for the last 3 decades[xii]
[i] GLOBOCAN 2002. Cancer Incidence, Mortality and Prevalence Worldwide (2002 estimates), 2005
[ii] Cancer Research UK UK Lung cancer mortality statistics 2004
[iii] Cancer Research UK UK Lung cancer mortality statistics 2004
[iv] http://www.roycastle.org/patient/lcam.htm
[v] http://www.roycastle.org/patient/lcam.htm
[vi] NHS Direct Online Health Encyclopaedia (2003)
[vii] Burden of Lung Disease (2006), 2nd Edition, British Thoracic Society
[viii] http://www.ncri.org.uk/documents/publications/pressdocs/Pr_cance.pdf
[ix] Cancer Research UK Cancer Stats Incidence UK February 2004
[x] Burden of Lung Disease (2006), 2nd Edition, British Thoracic Society
[xi] www.lungcancercoalition.org/cancer_facts.html
[xii] Burden of Lung Disease (2006), 2nd Edition, British Thoracic Society
