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More than 700 New Mexicans are diagnosed with lung cancer each year.
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More than 600 New Mexicans die each year from lung cancer. It is the leading cancer killer in the U.S. and in New Mexico.
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Tobacco use is responsible for 87% of all lung cancers.
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Lung cancer risk increases with age. 90% of cases are diagnosed in people age 55 and older.
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Only about 13% of New Mexicans who are diagnosed with lung cancer survive five years or more.
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Lung cancer mortality rates for non-Hispanic White men have been decreasing in recent years; however, rates for Hispanic men and women and for non-Hispanic White women have increased.
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Overall, more women die from lung cancer than from breast cancer.
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The best way to prevent lung cancer is to quit or never start smoking. Stopping smoking – even after many years of smoking – will reduce your risk for developing lung cancer. For information on how to quit smoking, visit the Surgeon General’s Website on tobacco cessation or call the toll-free Smoking Quitline of the National Cancer Institute at 1-877-44-U-QUIT (1-877-448-7848).
