The new face of America's deadliest cancer: Fit, healthy young people are being diagnosed in record numbers... now concerned experts believe they have uncovered why

Key Points:

• Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer deaths in the US, with smoking linked to 80% of cases, but the proportion of nonsmokers diagnosed has increased from 8% in the 1990s to 20% by 2022.
• Environmental pollution, including exposure to fine particle pollution and toxic chemicals like those from military burn pits, is increasingly recognized as a significant risk factor for lung cancer in nonsmokers.
• Symptoms of lung cancer in nonsmokers are often vague and dismissed, leading to delayed diagnoses; common signs include persistent cough, unexplained fatigue, and coughing up blood.
• Genetic mutations such as EGFR, ALK, and ROS1 are more common in nonsmokers and can be targeted with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), which have significantly improved survival rates and quality of life for patients like Laura Reed.
• There is growing debate about expanding lung cancer screening guidelines to include high-risk nonsmokers, especially those with environmental exposures or family history, to enable earlier detection and treatment.