6,000 non-smokers die of lung cancer each year

New research published in the journal of the Royal Society of Medicine has found that in the UK an estimated 6,000 non-smokers die of lung cancer every year. The statistic makes it a bigger killer than cervical cancer, lymphoma and ovarian cancer. The study also found that smoking still accounts for 86% of lung cancers, but non-smoking lung cancer is the eighth most common cause of cancer-related deaths in the UK and the seventh most prevalent cancer in the world. With declining rates of smoking, unfortunately the relative proportion of lung cancers in non-smokers is rising purportedly due to second-hand smoke, occupational carcinogen exposure and outdoor pollution.