How non-smokers get lung cancer as Pope Leo receives diagnosis with successful surgery
Pope Leo recently underwent successful surgery after being diagnosed with lung cancer, which made people question whether non-smokers can get the disease.
Lung cancer has been closely associated with smoking, though people who don't smoke cigarettes or vapes can also be diagnosed with the disease.
In fact, it's actually far from rare.
Dr. Sohaib Intiaz told People: "If lung cancer in never-smokers was classified as its own entity, it would be the fifth most common cause of cancer death worldwide and the seventh most common cancer overall."
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The majority of non-smokers are diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma, the most common type of lung cancer that the Pope has.
Explaining the variant of the disease, Imtiaz said: "The disease arises from a combination of environmental exposures, inherited susceptibility, and endogenous (internal) mutational processes, though in a large fraction of individual cases no single cause can be identified.
"That’s where tiny airborne particles, like fine air pollution and radon breakdown products settle when we breathe them in.
"It suggests the cause lies in pollution-type exposures and the body’s own internal processes rather than the direct damage tobacco does."
The expert explained that Radon exposure is the leading environmental cause of lung cancer, which is a 'colorless, odorless radioactive gas produced by the decay of uranium in soil and rock; it seeps into buildings through foundation cracks and accumulates in enclosed, poorly ventilated spaces, so exposure is predominantly residential', Imtiaz explained.
Another factor in a lung cancer diagnosis according to the expert is age, which is more than likely the reason the Pope was diagnosed with the disease.
"Age is the single most powerful non-smoking determinant of lung cancer risk, and an older never-smoker carries meaningful absolute risk simply by virtue of age," Intiaz added.
The expert went on to say that lung cancer in non-smokers "rises steeply across the decades of life, climbing markedly after roughly 60–70 years, so advancing age substantially raises the chance of disease even in someone who never smoked."
Earlier this week, surgeons successfully performed a lobectomy on Pope Leo, which completely removed the lower lobe of the 71-year-old pontiff’s right lung during the hospital procedure.
"The surgery was successful, and there were no complications," the Holy See said in an official statement released to press earlier this week.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact the American Cancer Society on 1-800-227-2345 or via their live chat feature, available 24/7 every day of the year.
Callum Jones