Lung cancer remains a major health concern for families and caregivers worldwide. In 2022, it caused an estimated 2.5 million new cases and 1.8 million deaths globally, while U.S. data show large differences by stage, age, sex, and race and ethnicity. These statistics help explain why timely diagnosis, prevention, treatment support, and practical caregiver planning matter.
Contents
- Global burden
- Lung cancer in the United States
- Stage and survival
- Age, sex, and race and ethnicity
- Regional patterns worldwide
- Prevention and screening
Global burden
The WHO lung cancer fact sheet estimated 2.5 million new lung cancer cases worldwide in 2022 and 1.8 million deaths. The same source reports that non-small cell lung cancer accounts for around 85% of lung cancer cases. For families supporting someone through treatment, these figures describe the scale of the disease but do not predict an individual outcome.
IARC’s GLOBOCAN 2022 world fact sheet provides more precise estimates. Globally, lung cancer caused 2,480,675 new cases and 1,817,469 deaths in 2022. It represented 12.4% of all new cancer cases and 18.7% of all cancer deaths. Lung cancer ranked first worldwide for both incidence and mortality in 2022.
The same IARC estimates counted 3,221,461 people living within five years of a lung cancer diagnosis in 2022. The global five-year prevalence proportion was 40.9 per 100,000. Among men, lung cancer ranked first for new cancer cases, with 1,572,045 cases, or 15.2% of new cancer cases. Among women, it ranked second, with 908,630 cases, or 9.4% of new cancer cases.
These measures are different from survival rates. Incidence counts new diagnoses during a period; mortality counts deaths; prevalence counts people living after diagnosis. Keeping those definitions separate helps caregivers interpret health information accurately.
Lung cancer in the United States
The CDC U.S. Cancer Statistics Lung Cancer Stat Bite reported 218,893 new lung cancers in the United States in 2022 and 131,584 people who died from lung cancer in 2023. The CDC describes the incidence and death figures as based on the most recent available data: 2022 incidence and 2023 mortality.
The CDC incidence data cover 100% of the U.S. population, and the death data also cover 100% of the U.S. population. The five-year limited-duration prevalence measure in the 2024 data submission covered 87% of the U.S. population. These coverage statements matter when comparing measures, because prevalence coverage was not the same as the coverage for incidence and deaths.
The CDC reported these sex-specific U.S. rates:
| Measure | Males | Females |
|---|---|---|
| Lung cancer incidence | 53.8 per 100,000 | 46.1 per 100,000 |
| Lung cancer death rate | 34.0 per 100,000 | 25.7 per 100,000 |
The CDC also reported that nearly half of U.S. lung cancers were diagnosed at a distant stage during 2018–2022. More than one-fourth were diagnosed at a localized stage, and less than one-fourth at a regional stage. Overall, 29% of U.S. lung cancer patients survived five years or more in the CDC summary.
For a caregiver, a population-level survival percentage should be treated as context rather than an individual forecast. A person’s outlook can depend on stage, tumor characteristics, treatment, overall health, and response to care; those details are not supplied by this statistic.
Stage and survival
SEER’s Lung and Bronchus Cancer Stat Facts reports a 29.5% five-year relative survival for lung and bronchus cancer. The stage distribution and corresponding five-year relative survival rates show why stage at diagnosis is central to cancer care conversations:
| SEER stage | Share diagnosed at this stage | Five-year relative survival |
|---|---|---|
| Localized | 23.7% | 65.5% |
| Regional | 21.0% | 38.2% |
| Distant | 51.0% | 10.5% |
| Unstaged or unknown | 4.0% | 17.5% |
The SEER figures use the term “relative survival,” which compares survival among people with cancer with survival expected among similar people in the general population. They are not a guarantee for a particular patient and do not describe every current treatment situation.
The CDC’s 2018–2022 stage summary uses broader wording—nearly half distant, more than one-fourth localized, and less than one-fourth regional—while SEER reports the percentages above. The periods and reporting systems differ, so the figures should not be treated as one single dataset or added together.
SEER estimates 229,410 new lung and bronchus cancer cases in the United States in 2026 and 124,990 deaths. The estimate is a forecast for 2026, not a count of cases or deaths already observed. Lung and bronchus cancer is estimated to represent 10.8% of all new U.S. cancer cases in 2026.
Age, sex, and race and ethnicity
SEER reports an age-adjusted U.S. lung and bronchus cancer incidence rate of 47.2 per 100,000 persons. The incidence rate is 52.0 per 100,000 for males and 43.6 per 100,000 for females. Its reported median age at diagnosis is 71.
SEER’s incidence rates by race and ethnicity are:
| Group | Males | Females |
|---|---|---|
| Hispanic | 29.8 | 23.2 per 100,000 |
| Non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native | 53.8 | 48.6 per 100,000 |
| Non-Hispanic Asian/Pacific Islander | 40.8 | 28.3 per 100,000 |
| Non-Hispanic Black | 63.7 | 42.8 per 100,000 |
| Non-Hispanic White | 57.0 | 50.9 per 100,000 |
Among new cases, 0.2% occur at ages 20–34, 0.9% at ages 35–44, 4.4% at ages 45–54, 20.8% at ages 55–64, 36.4% at ages 65–74, 28.4% at ages 75–84, and 9.0% after age 84. The distribution totals across age groups and shows that most new cases occur at older ages.
SEER reports an age-adjusted death rate of 30.2 per 100,000 persons: 35.4 per 100,000 for males and 26.2 per 100,000 for females. The median age at lung and bronchus cancer death is 73.
Among deaths, 0.1% occur at ages 20–34, 0.6% at ages 35–44, 3.4% at ages 45–54, 18.3% at ages 55–64, 33.8% at ages 65–74, 30.9% at ages 75–84, and 12.9% after age 84. These are population distributions, not a way to estimate when an individual patient will die.
Regional patterns worldwide
IARC’s GLOBOCAN 2022 trachea, bronchus, and lung fact sheet reports a world age-standardized incidence rate of 23.6 and a world age-standardized mortality rate of 16.8. In 2022, Asia accounted for 1,566,355 lung cancer cases and 1,142,397 deaths. Europe accounted for 484,306 cases and 375,569 deaths, while Northern America accounted for 257,284 cases and 150,675 deaths.
Latin America and the Caribbean accounted for 105,306 cases and 90,846 deaths. Africa accounted for 49,831 cases and 45,464 deaths. Oceania accounted for 17,593 cases and 12,518 deaths. These are regional counts for 2022, not individual-country rates and not forecasts.
IARC also reported five-year prevalent cases in 2022: 2,058,202 in Asia, 610,169 in Europe, 325,855 in Northern America, 135,918 in Latin America and the Caribbean, 70,142 in Africa, and 21,175 in Oceania. Prevalence reflects people living within five years of diagnosis, so it should not be read as a count of newly diagnosed cases.
Prevention and screening
The WHO lung cancer fact sheet reports that more than 1.3 million lung cancer cases in men are preventable and nearly 500,000 cases in women are preventable. It attributes about 60% to 70% of preventable lung cancer burden to tobacco smoking. The figures describe preventable burden at the population level and do not establish the cause of an individual diagnosis.
The CDC Radon and Your Health source estimates that radon causes more than 21,000 lung cancer deaths each year in the United States. This is an estimate, not a directly observed annual death count.
For screening, the USPSTF Lung Cancer Screening Recommendation recommends annual low-dose CT screening for eligible adults aged 50 to 80 years. The recommendation includes adults with a 20 pack-year smoking history who currently smoke or quit within the past 15 years. Eligibility and personal medical decisions require discussion with a health professional; the statistics here do not determine whether screening is appropriate for a particular person.
For caregivers, the practical value of these data is in preparing focused questions: What stage was diagnosed? Which survival statistic applies to that stage and measurement period? Is a number an observed count, an estimate, a rate, a prevalence measure, or a forecast? Clear answers can make appointments, treatment planning, and support decisions easier to follow.