Lung Cancer

There are several things you can do to lower your risk of lung cancer:

Do Not Smoke

The more you smoke and the longer you smoke, the greater your risk is for lung cancer. Smoking is linked to many types of cancer and other diseases. There is no safe kind of tobacco product and no safe amount of smoking.

It’s never too late to benefit from becoming smoke-free. If you are already a non-smoker, keep yourself safe by avoiding exposure to other people’s tobacco smoke (second-hand smoke).

It may take several tries to quit smoking. If you’ve tried to quit in the past and have started smoking again, don’t give up. Each time you try to quit, you get closer to your goal of being smoke-free forever.

To find information on how to quit smoking visit:

• Canadian Cancer Society
• Smokers’ Helpline

Protect Yourself from Cancer-Causing Substances

In your environment

There are many things in the air that you can’t see or smell that may damage your lungs and increase your chance of lung cancer:

• Air pollution (e.g., from vehicle exhaust, industrial plants and home heating)
• Radon gas, a colourless, odourless, naturally occurring gas that can be a health risk if it builds up in a home or building. Visit Health Canada to find out what to do if you are concerned about radon gas in your home.
• Asbestos, a type of minerals used in some products like brake pads and cement. It can become harmful when disturbed or damaged, releasing fibres into the air, such as during a renovation. Visit Government of Canada to learn more about asbestos, its health risks and how to avoid exposure.

At work

If you work in certain industries, you may be exposed to metals, dust, fibres, asbestos, arsenic, radiation, gases or other compounds that may increase the risk of lung cancer. Exposure to cancer-causing substances can also vary based on how close you work to these substances. For instance, it depends on how long you’ve worked there, the exposure controls in place, and whether you’ve been using protective clothing and devices such as respirators and gloves.

You may be at increased risk for lung cancer if you are involved with:

• painting
• iron or steel founding
• rubber manufacturing
• coke ovens 
• coal gasification
• nickel or aluminum smelting
• mining
• demolition
• construction
• welding
• transportation
• X-ray and gamma radiation

To protect yourself, talk to your supervisor, health or safety specialist, industrial hygienist or local union representative about exposures in your workplace.

For more information about causes of lung cancer in the workplace, visit the Occupational Cancer Research Centre’s page on lung cancer.

Eat a Healthy Diet

Eating a diet rich in vegetables and, in particular, fruit may help to reduce your risk of lung cancer. The exact reasons are not yet clear. Vegetables and fruit are good sources of beneficial nutrients such as antioxidants, carotenoids and phytochemicals that help to boost the immune system.

Know Your Personal Risks

There is some evidence that having a parent, sibling or child with lung cancer is associated with an increased risk. Some of the risk may be because family members share behaviours, like smoking or being exposed to second-hand smoke.

So far, no specific gene has been found for lung cancer. Researchers are still studying whether a genetic mutation for lung cancer can be inherited.

Cancer screening is testing done on people who may be at risk of getting cancer, but who generally feel fine.

We now have an effective and evidence-based way to check, or screen, people for lung cancer. That means we can find some lung cancers early, when treatment has a better chance of working.

People who are at high risk of getting lung cancer and qualify to get screened will be offered a special type of computed tomography (CT) scan that uses a small amount of radiation. This test is called a “low-dose CT scan.”

Screening is not for everyone. People who are not at high risk of getting lung cancer should not get screened because there may be more risks than benefits for them.

You may qualify to get screened if you:

• are 55 to 74 years old, and
• have smoked cigarettes every day for at least 20 years (it does not have to be 20 years in a row, which means there could be times when you did not smoke)

To learn more about lung cancer screening, the screening test, where it is available and how to participate, see Screening for Lung Cancer.

During diagnosis, a person may need many tests to confirm the cancer. Waiting for test results to come back can be stressful. Talk to your doctor about managing stress during this difficult time.

For more information about diagnostic tests for lung cancer, you can visit the Canadian Cancer Society.

Starting the Diagnostic Process

Not everyone follows the same diagnostic process. Some patients may be helped through the process by their family doctor, while others may be helped by a specialist or a Diagnostic Assessment Program (DAP).

In many cases, a family doctor is the first contact point in the process of diagnosing cancer and is the one to refer a patient to a specialist or DAP.

To check if a DAP is available in your area, go to our map of DAP locations.

Treatment for lung cancer will depend on:

• the type of cancer
• the stage of cancer
• which treatments and services the person chooses to have

Treatments may include:

• surgery
• drug therapy (chemotherapy)
• radiation therapy
• other treatment options
• clinical drug trials

To learn more about types of lung cancer treatment, visit the Canadian Cancer Society.

Drug Therapy Information

You can learn more about specific cancer drugs using our patient information sheets. These provide information about cancer drug therapies, including what they are used for and how to manage side effects. To find patient information sheets, go to the Drugs page.

You can also see About Chemotherapy for general information about cancer drug therapy.

Quitting Smoking Can Help Your Treatment

It’s never too late to quit smoking. Whether you are scheduled to have surgery, radiation treatment or chemotherapy, quitting smoking can help your treatment work better. It also can reduce the chance of your cancer coming back or getting another form of cancer. For more information and resources, see Benefits of Quitting Smoking for People with Cancer.

Managing Symptoms and Side Effects

People with cancer may have symptoms related to their cancer or as a side effect of treatment.

Our symptom management guides explain:

• how to recognize symptoms
• what to do and what not to do
• when to contact the person’s healthcare team

The guides are available for patients and for healthcare providers. Each patient guide also comes with links to helpful resources like courses, books, videos and worksheets.

Our side effect information sheets offer tips for people going through side effects from chemotherapy treatment.

If you are a person with cancer, please remember that it’s important to discuss any symptoms or concerns with your healthcare team.

• View Symptom and Side Effect Management

Clinical Trials

Clinical trials are scientific studies that test the safety and effectiveness of a medical treatment. Find clinical trials in Canada.

• Canadian Cancer Trials
• Clinicaltrials.gov (worldwide)

Palliative Care

Palliative care supports people with life-threatening illness and their families. The goal of this care is to relieve suffering so people can have the best possible quality of life. Palliative care should start when a person is diagnosed with a serious illness.

To learn more, go to the Palliative Care page.

When treatment ends, a person moves into a new phase of their cancer experience. For many patients, a lot of the after-treatment care will be given by healthcare providers in the community, like a family doctor or nurse practitioner.

Follow-Up Care

Follow-up care is the care given after active treatment for lung cancer is over. It focuses on:

• helping the person recover from the cancer and treatments
• finding cancer early if it comes back

To learn more about follow-up care, visit the Canadian Cancer Society.

Managing Ongoing Symptoms

A person may have symptoms from cancer for months or years after treatment has ended. These are called long-term effects or late effects.

If you have ongoing symptoms after being treated for cancer, you can find information on how to manage them in our Symptom and Side Effect Management guides.

End-of-Life Care

Each person has a different experience during their final months and days of life. Their symptoms may change as their illness continues, and their needs for information and support will be unique. Family members will also have questions, concerns and needs of their own.

If you are helping a family member through their final months of life, talk to your healthcare team about your questions and concerns as they come up. They can give you information and resources to support you and your family, and help you make decisions and plan for end-of-life care.

For more information, go to the Palliative Care page.

• In 2020, 10,592 cases of lung cancer are expected to be diagnosed in Ontario, making it the second most common cancer. An expected 7,124 deaths from lung cancer make it the leading cause of cancer death.
• One in 13 Ontarians is expected to develop lung cancer in their lifetime and 1 in 17 is expected to die from it.
• Lung cancer rates have been going up in women since the 1980s, but this trend has slowed since 1998. In men, the rates have begun declining in recent years. Since the late 1980s, deaths from lung cancer have been going down in men and women, with a faster rate of decline in men compared with women.
• Women under the age of 50 have higher rates of lung cancer than men under the age of 50.
• People diagnosed with lung cancer are 22% as likely to survive 5 years after diagnosis as similar people in the general population.