{"id":106837,"date":"2026-01-06T15:50:20","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T20:50:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=106837"},"modified":"2026-05-22T22:25:47","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T02:25:47","slug":"global-study-explores-lung-cancer-risk-among-never-smokers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2026\/01\/global-study-explores-lung-cancer-risk-among-never-smokers\/","title":{"rendered":"Global study explores lung cancer risk among never-smokers"},"content":{"rendered":"

While avoiding cigarettes and tobacco can help prevent lung cancer, rising rates of diagnosis among those who\u2019ve never smoked<\/a> are raising questions about other risk factors for the disease.<\/p>\n

Professor Emeritus of Epidemiology Martin Tammem\u00e4gi is closely monitoring the global trend as co-leader of the FALCONS study<\/a>, an international network of researchers investigating lung cancer risk factors among never-smoking individuals. The disease is currently the fifth-highest cause of cancer deaths worldwide.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s an issue of fairness for people who never smoked and get lung cancer,\u201d says Tammem\u00e4gi. \u201cThey deserve to benefit from the same preventative programs that smoking individuals do, even though the incidence of lung cancer in individuals who never smoked is low compared to smokers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dr.

Dr. Andrea McKee (left), Chief of the Division of Radiation Oncology at the Lahey Hospital and Medical Center\u2019s Sophia Gordon Cancer Center in Burlington, Mass., presented Professor Emeritus Martin Tammem\u00e4gi the Brady McKee Award of Excellence in CT Lung Screening at the Rescue Lung Society’s annual conference in Boston Oct. 25.<\/p><\/div>\n

The team involves 26 clinicians and researchers in 15 countries who are collecting and analyzing data on more than 150 different factors \u2013 such as poor nutrition, infections, family history of cancer and diabetes \u2013 thought to be associated with lung cancer.<\/p>\n

They will then develop risk prediction models of lung cancer in those from western and east Asian countries who have never smoked.<\/p>\n

Tammem\u00e4gi says heavy air pollution increases lung cancer risks for people living in East Asian countries, with women being particularly vulnerable.<\/p>\n

\u201cWomen do a lot of indoor cooking using organic biological materials, which give off carcinogenic fumes that they inhale, making them susceptible to cancer,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Other risk factors for never smokers include older age, being female, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, inherited genetic changes, radon exposure to second-hand smoke, and exposure to diesel fumes, he says.<\/p>\n

The third component of the FALCONS study is to conduct simulation models that will identify under what conditions lung cancer screening of never smoking individuals will be effective and cost-effective.<\/p>\n

The study, which began in April 2025, is expected to wrap up by the end of March 2027.<\/p>\n

Tammem\u00e4gi\u2019s leadership of the FALCONS study is one of many research accomplishments that earned him the Brady McKee Award of Excellence in CT Lung Screening<\/a> from the Rescue Lung Society.<\/p>\n

The award, presented Oct. 25 at the group\u2019s annual conference, acknowledges milestones Tammem\u00e4gi achieved over his 35-year career. Some of these include:<\/p>\n