Cigarette smoking is the cause of most lung cancers. The more you smoke, the greater your risk of developing lung cancer. It’s also more likely to develop in people who start smoking at a young age. Filtered and low-tar cigarettes may slightly reduce a person’s risk of developing cancer, but the risk is still far higher than that of a non-smoker.
People who don’t smoke can also develop lung cancer. Approximately 10-15% of people (around 1 in 10) who get lung cancer will never have smoked.
Lung cancer is more common in men, as more men used to smoke than women. However, the number of men diagnosed with lung cancer in the UK has fallen over the last 30 years. And, as more women have started smoking, the number of women developing lung cancer has increased.