“I don’t even smoke, but I have terminal lung cancer”… Why was a non-smoker diagnosed with a terminal condition?

[아이뉴스24 설래온 기자] A woman who had never smoked was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer.

A non-smoker was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. The photo has nothing to do with the content of the article. [사진=게티뱅크이미지]

According to the British media outlet The Mirror on the 6th (local time), British woman Melanie Erwin (57) had been suffering from extreme fatigue for some time, but regarded this as ‘long Covid’, an aftereffect of COVID-19. However, last March, he was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.

Erwin said, “I didn’t even have a cough, which is a typical symptom of lung cancer, and all I had was fatigue, so I thought it was just an aftereffect of the coronavirus.” He also said, “Everyone around him was surprised to learn that he had lung cancer, even though he had never smoked or held a cigarette in his life.”

As a result of the test, it was confirmed that Erwin had an ‘EGFR mutation’, which is known to be one of the causes of lung cancer. ‘EGFR mutation’ is known to be a risk factor that can cause lung cancer even in non-smokers, and according to the medical community, it is estimated that about 40% of non-small cell lung cancer patients have this mutation.

EGFR regulates the growth and development of normal cells, but when mutations occur, it can cause cancer by promoting cancer cell proliferation and inhibiting cell death. Erwin emphasized, “If there is a mutation, even non-smokers can get lung cancer,” and added, “I want people to know that anyone can get lung cancer as long as they have lungs.”

According to the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation, 44 women in the UK die from lung cancer every day, more than from breast and ovarian cancer combined. Additionally, approximately 25% of people diagnosed with lung cancer each year are non-smokers.

In the UK, 44 women die from lung cancer every day, more than deaths from breast and ovarian cancer combined. Additionally, approximately 25% of patients diagnosed with lung cancer each year are non-smokers. [사진=픽사베이]

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated that lung cancer can be caused by various risk factors in addition to smoking. Secondhand smoke, radon (a naturally occurring radioactive gas), air pollution, family history of lung cancer, and asbestos are considered major causes of lung cancer.

The CDC found that about 10% to 20% of lung cancer cases in the United States, or about 20,000 to 40,000 cases each year, occur in people who have never smoked or smoked fewer than 100 cigarettes in their lifetime. Researchers estimate that among these non-smokers’ lung cancer cases, about 7,300 cases are caused by secondhand smoke and about 2,900 cases are caused by radon exposure.

/Reporter Seolraeon (leonsign@inews24.com)