Is Smog Increasing the Incidence of Lung Cancer?

By Medical Expert Team

Dec 14 , 2017 | 1 min read

A Man-Made disaster- Smog contains several pollutants from particulate matters, poisonous gases, and dust from construction sites as well as vehicles. Dr. Dinesh Singh, Director, Radiation Oncology, Max Super Speciality Hospital, Vaishali says that PM 2.5 levels are increasing the cases of lung cancer. It has been seen that the number of non-smokers have increased to 20% as compared to the 10% in the past years.

According to data published by Globocan 2012, the incidence of lung cancer has increased by 81 % from 1990 to 2013. Now since the last few years, there has been an increase in the problem of smog as evidenced by the increase in lung cancer cases both in males and females.

A patient who is suffering from lung cancer can have cough and feel breathlessness, and if it does not get resolved within 2 weeks, it can have serious consequences.

What is the diagnosis?

A digital chest X-Ray may give good results and if there are any suspicious findings then the patient is further investigated to check the presence of cancer. If a lesion appears in a CT scan then a tissue diagnosis or biopsy is done either bronchoscopically or a CT guided biopsy. your doctor will then recommend a treatment according to the stage of cancer.

How can you prevent lung cancer?