Lung cancer in nonsmokers: "A women's health crisis" - CBS News

What the report says

CBS News reports that lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer death among women in the United States, while an increasing portion of new diagnoses are occurring in women who have never smoked. The article frames the issue through a discussion on the CBS health podcast “Healthful,” featuring Anne Wojcicki, Shira Kupperman Boehler and Dr. Kim Sandler, director of the Vanderbilt Lung Screening Program.

The report notes that former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, a nonsmoker, died of lung cancer at age 56. Her sister, Anne Wojcicki, has since helped launch the Susan Wojcicki Foundation with family members to focus on prevention and earlier detection. Boehler, also a nonsmoker, described being diagnosed with stage 1B lung cancer at 44, underscoring concerns that many people outside traditional risk categories may not be screened.

According to figures cited by CBS, lung cancer causes more annual cancer deaths than breast, pancreatic and ovarian cancers combined. CBS also cited a 2023 study in The Journal of Radiology finding an 81% survival rate for patients diagnosed at stages I or II, compared with a 10% survival rate for late-stage disease, as reported by the American Lung Cancer Association.

CBS says low-dose CT scans can detect lung cancer early, but current guidelines focus on people over 50 with a significant smoking history. The report highlights that roughly one-fifth of lung cancer cases occur in nonsmokers, and that women who never smoked make up a large share of those cases, prompting calls for wider discussion of screening and risk.