ABSTRACT
Lung cancer is the leading cause of death in the developed world, with the majority of patients (80 per cent) dying within a year of diagnosis. Lung cancer accounts for 28 per cent of male cancer deaths in the UK and 31 per cent in the USA. For women, lung cancer accounts for 20 per cent of cancer deaths in the UK and 25 per cent in the USA. In 2004, 19 490 men and 13 550 women died from lung cancer in the UK.1 Mortality figures within England and Wales show significant regional differences in incidence, with the highest incidence in the North of England. The mortality in this region is the highest in Europe; in Tyneside, the age-standardized mortality for men is 101.3 per 100 000,
compared to only 18.9 in Potenza, Italy, and 23.8 for women in Merseyside, compared to 2.4 in Potenza. In the Far East, non-smokers have a far higher incidence of lung cancer than in the West due to a high level of EGFR mutations.
