Gender Differences

• Approximately 402,326 Americans living today have ever been diagnosed with lung cancer.³ During 2015, an estimated 221,200 new cases of lung cancer were expected to be diagnosed, representing about 13 percent of all cancer diagnoses.²

• The majority of living lung cancer patients have been diagnosed within the last five years. Lung cancer is mostly a disease of the elderly. In 2011, 82 percent of those living with lung cancer were 60 years of age or older.³

• In 2011, Kentucky had the highest age-adjusted lung cancer incidence rates in both men (112.2 per 100,000) and women (79.3 per 100,000). Utah had the lowest age-adjusted cancer incidence rates in both men and women (34.5 per 100,000 and 25.0 per 100,000, respectively).⁴ These state-specific rates were parallel to smoking prevalence rates.

• Lung cancer is the most common cancer worldwide, accounting for 1.8 million new cases and 1.6 million deaths in 2012.⁵

The National Institutes of Health estimate that cancer care cost the United States an overall $124.6 billion in 2010, $12.1 billion of which is due to lung cancer. Lost productivity due to early death from cancer lead to an additional $134.8 billion in 2005, $36.1 billion of which was due to lung cancer.⁶

 Created through the Affordable Care Act, the National Prevention Council comprises 20 federal departments, agencies, and offices. Led by the U.S. Surgeon General, the National Prevention Council is committed to prevention and wellness for individuals, families, and communities.