Physical and Psychosocial Issues in Lung Cancer Survivors.

Lung cancer emerged during the 20th century as an epidemic of enormous proportions.1 A rare disease at the beginning of the past century, lung cancer continues to be one of the most common cancers in the world, affecting 173,700 Americans (93,110 men and 80,660 women) in 2004.2 Mirroring changes in smoking patterns, the incidence of lung cancer among men continues to decline. Large-scale smoking among women occurred almost 20 years after men in the United States, with a subsequent delay in increased cases, peaking in the 1990s. Encouragingly, the most recent evidence demonstrates that lung cancer incidence among women is declining, as are death rates.3 In 2000, approximately 13% of men and 17% of women (age-adjusted, 15% overall) diagnosed with lung cancer were expected to survive at least 5 years (an estimated 26,065 Americans each year). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]