GoKawiilIllustration: Rowena Sheehan
A cancer diagnosis of any kind portends a rough road ahead, but that has been especially true of lung cancer. The World Health Organization estimates that 1.8 million people died from lung cancer in 2022. That is around 900,000 more deaths than were caused by the next most lethal malignancy: colorectal cancer.
Nature Outlook: Lung cancer
Lung cancer has long been associated with tobacco smoking. As smoking has fallen out of favour over the past few decades, it might be expected that the disease would lose its grim primacy. But people who have never smoked get lung cancer too — in Asia, this group accounts for around 30% of cases. A large proportion of people who have never smoked but have the disease are women. This has highlighted a difference between men and women that has led some researchers to conclude that lung cancer in women is a distinct condition.
Early detection is key to improving the outcomes of lung cancer treatment, and people who are at high risk of developing the disease can benefit from routine scans to catch tumours early. But health agencies are grappling with who should qualify for such screening. Young people and non-smokers, for example, are typically not eligible, and, as a result, are often diagnosed too late for treatment to be effective.
Although the picture overall remains dire, rays of hope are filtering through. New drugs that target specific cancer-causing mutations are proving impressively effective. One drug approved in 2025, for example, slows tumour growth and stops the mass forming blood vessels that it needs to sustain itself. Researchers are also refining their understanding of how certain lung cancer cells resemble neurons — an insight that could lead to better therapies for lung cancers that spread to the brain.
Globally, the burden of lung cancer is not evenly distributed. Parts of Asia are disproportionately affected, in part, because of the continuing prevalence of smoking there. And people of African descent all over the world find themselves at a particular disadvantage.
We are pleased to acknowledge the financial support of MSD and Daiichi Sankyo in producing this Outlook. As always, Nature retains sole responsibility for all editorial content.