Lung Cancer

Lung cancer accounts for the most cancer-related deaths in both men and women.

More people die of lung cancer than of colon, breast, and prostate cancers combined.

In 2009, there will be an estimated 219,440 new cases of lung cancer in the United States: 116,090 cases among men and 103,350 among women, according to the American Cancer Society.

**Experts predict that this year about 159,390 people will die of lung cancer.

Lung cancer may take many years to develop--it is a silent killer because it can grow for a long time before it is found. Once the lung cancer occurs, cancer cells can break away and spread to other parts of the body (metastasis). Lung cancer is such a deadly disease because it often spreads before it is found.

Most patients are between 55 to 65 years old when they are diagnosed. Sadly, the overall survival for 5 years in patients with the different types of lung cancer is less than 10%. However, when lung cancer is found early enough for surgery to remove it (before it has spread to other organs), patient five-year survival improves to 35 to 40%.

Early detection of lung cancer is key - and PET scanning can help.