Air pollution is fueling a rise in the commonest form of lung cancer among non-smokers, hitting women and people in southeast Asia particularly hard, according to a study published on Tuesday.

The findings of the study showed that adenocarcinoma, accounted for 53-70 per cent of the lung cancer cases in non-smokers globally in 2022.

THE proportion of people diagnosed with lung cancer who’ve never smoked is increasing, the World Health Organization (WHO) has revealed. New research highlights air pollution as a growing factor

Air pollution is the leading cause behind the rise in lung cancer cases among non-smokers, especially women and those living in Southeast Asia, accor

Air pollution plays a significant role in the increase in the number of cases of lung adenocarcinoma, the most common type of lung cancer globally, reveals a new study published in the journal Lancet Respiratory Medicine.

"Changes in smoking patterns and exposure to air pollution are among the main determinants of the changing risk profile of lung cancer incidence by subtype that we see today," lead author Freddie Bray, head of the cancer surveillance branch at IARC, said.

Lung cancer in never-smokers is also occurring almost exclusively as adenocarcinoma, which has become the most dominant of the four main subtypes of the disease in men and women globally, the agency said.

Researchers from the International Agency for Research on Cancer said for never-smokers, lung cancer was the fifth largest leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. Those cases were nearly exclusively the subtype adenocarcinoma - a tumour that forms in the glandular tissue - and largely in women and Asian populations.

A new study published on World Cancer Day in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine journal reveals an alarming rise in lung cancer cases

Cases of lung cancer among individuals who have never smoked are increasing, with air pollution emerging as a potential driver, according to a study published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine World Cancer Day.