Lung Cancer
Risk Factors

Your Lung Cancer Risk Tool

Click the Lung Cancer Risk Calculator Tool from The Siteman Cancer Center to help determine your lung cancer risk factors and what you may be able to  do to reduce your risk.

Other Lung Cancer Risk Factors

• Cigarette smoking. The number one risk factor for lung cancer. Smoking cigarettes can make you 15 to 30 times more likely to be diagnosed with lung cancer or die.
• Secondhand smoke. Smoke from other people’s cigarettes, pipes, or cigars. When a person breathes in secondhand smoke, it’s almost like they are smoking, too.
• Radon. A naturally occurring gas that comes from rocks and dirt and can get trapped in houses and buildings. Radon cannot be seen, tasted, or smelled. Note: an inexpensive kit is available at hardware stores to test your home for radon.
• Other substances. Examples of substances found at some workplaces that increase risk include asbestos, arsenic, diesel exhaust, and some forms of silica and chromium.
• Personal or family history of lung cancer. If you are a lung cancer survivor, there is a risk that you may develop another lung cancer, especially if you smoke. Your risk of lung cancer may also be higher if your parents, brothers or sisters, or children have had lung cancer.
• Radiation therapy to the chest. Cancer survivors who had radiation therapy, a treatment for cancer to the chest, are at higher risk of lung cancer.