Short answers, pulled from the story.
The world witnessed 2.2 million new cases of lung cancer and 1.8 million deaths from the disease in 2020. This single malignancy accounted for 18% of all global cancer fatalities that year.
Tobacco smoking causes 80% to 90% of all lung cancer cases worldwide by creating DNA adducts, oxidative stress, and breaks in DNA strands. At least 50 chemicals in cigarette smoke are identified as carcinogenic by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.
The United Kingdom's Royal College of Physicians officially concluded smoking causes lung cancer in 1962. The US Surgeon General's report published in January 1964 firmly stated smoking far outweighed all other factors in causing the disease.
Up to 30% of tumors harbor EGFR gene mutations treatable with inhibitors such as osimertinib or erlotinib. Approximately 7% of cases feature hyperactive ALK protein managed by inhibitors like crizotinib or alectinib.
Early-stage IA1 disease boasts a five-year survival of 92%, while advanced IVB disease has zero percent five-year survival. Survival rates vary significantly by stage depending on how much the cancer has spread.