Health Tip of the Week, sponsored by Baton Rouge General: New type of lung cancer found in young non-smokers

It’s a common myth that only smokers or former smokers get lung cancer, but as many as 20% of lung cancer diagnoses are in people who have never smoked. Smokers and non-smokers tend to develop different types of lung cancer. Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is almost always associated with heavy smoking and in older people, but researchers have identified a new subtype of SCLC affecting young non-smokers. In the study, the mean age at diagnosis was 53, quite a bit younger than the average age for a lung cancer diagnosis, which is 70. Sixty-five percent of the patients in the study had never smoked. Learn more about this new type of lung cancer.