Robert Suh, MD

Lung carcinoma remains the leading cause of cancer death in the U.S. Over the past decade, lung cancer death rates have more than quadrupled, from 5.4 to 29.4 per 100,000.1 The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2005 the number of lung cancer deaths will rise to 163,510-90,490 men and 73,020 women-accounting for 28% of all cancer-related deaths. The number of newly diagnosed lung cancers will rise to 172,570, or 93,010 new cases in men and 79,560 in women.2 Nearly 60% of those diagnosed with lung cancer die within one year of their diagnosis and nearly 75% within two years.2