‘Lung cancer on rise among non-smokers’

HYDERABAD: A substantial number of non-smokers are being detected with lung cancer, said M V T Krishna Mohan, oncologist, Basavatarakam Indo-American Cancer Hospital on Friday.
Speaking on the occasion of World No Tobacco Day at the Indian Medical Association Building in Koti, he said that 60% of lung cancer patients that visit the hospital are smokers while the rest are non-smokers. He attributed development of lung cancer among such patients to passive smoking, environmental and genetic factors. Non-smokers, he said, also present symptoms later than smokers. “This is because they may not show tell-tale signs such as wheezing and chronic cough. They often come when the disease has spread much further,” he explained. On a positive note, non-smokers have more treatment options including targeted treatment, he said. Targeted treatment refers to medication that focuses on eliminating cancer cells without destroying good cells. “The chances of surviving the response to treatment are also higher for non-smokers,” he said.