Bilello Kathryn Smith, Murin Susan, Matthay Richard A
Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco at Fresno, University Medical Center, Fresno, California, USA.
Clin Chest Med. 2002 Mar;23(1):1-25. doi: 10.1016/s0272-5231(03)00057-1.
Over the past century, lung cancer has gone from an obscure disease to the leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Initially an epidemic disease among men in industrialized nations, lung cancer now has become the leading cancer killer in both sexes in the United States and an increasingly common disease of both sexes in developing countries. Lung cancer incidence largely mirrors smoking prevalence, with a latency period of several decades. Other important risk factors for the development of lung cancer include environmental exposure to tobacco smoke, radon, occupational carcinogens, and pre-existing nonmalignant lung disease. Studies in molecular biology have elucidated the role that genetic factors play in modifying an individual's risk for lung cancer. Although chemopreventive agents may be developed to prevent lung cancer, prevention of smoking initiation and promotion of smoking cessation are currently the best weapons to fight lung cancer. No other malignancy has been shown to have such a strong epidemiologic relation between a preventable behavior and incidence of disease. Despite this knowledge, more than 20% of all Americans smoke, and tobacco use is exploding in developing countries. Based on current and projected smoking patterns, it is anticipated that lung cancer will remain the leading cause of cancer death in the world for decades to come.
在过去的一个世纪里，肺癌已从一种鲜为人知的疾病发展成为全球癌症死亡的首要原因。肺癌最初是工业化国家男性中的一种流行病，如今在美国已成为男女癌症死亡的首要杀手，在发展中国家也日益成为男女的常见疾病。肺癌发病率在很大程度上反映了吸烟流行情况，且存在数十年的潜伏期。肺癌发生的其他重要风险因素包括环境接触烟草烟雾、氡、职业致癌物以及先前存在的非恶性肺部疾病。分子生物学研究阐明了遗传因素在改变个体患肺癌风险方面所起的作用。尽管可能会研发出化学预防剂来预防肺癌，但目前预防开始吸烟和促进戒烟是对抗肺癌的最佳武器。没有其他恶性肿瘤显示出在一种可预防行为与疾病发病率之间存在如此强烈的流行病学关联。尽管有这些认识，但仍有超过20%的美国人吸烟，而且烟草使用在发展中国家正迅速增长。基于当前和预计的吸烟模式，预计在未来几十年里肺癌仍将是全球癌症死亡的首要原因。
