Lung cancer is affecting increasing numbers of women and people who have never smoked in Belgium, with annual new cases projected to rise by nearly 20% by 2035, according to the Belgian Cancer Foundation.
Figures from the Belgian Cancer Registry show the number of new lung cancer diagnoses is expected to increase from 9,487 in 2023 to 11,429 in 2035.
Among men, incidence appears to be stabilising. Among women, however, it is rising sharply, from 1,554 new cases in 2004 to 3,773 in 2023, with 5,716 cases projected in 2035.
Smoking remains by far the main risk factor and is responsible for 80% to 90% of lung cancers, the foundation said, stressing the continued importance of tobacco control.
However, the disease is increasingly affecting people who have never smoked. Other known risk factors include exposure to carcinogenic substances at work or in the environment, air pollution and radon.
Lung cancer now accounts for about one in five cancer deaths in Belgium, making it one of the deadliest cancers in the country, the foundation said.
Data from the Cancer Registry for 2023 also show that more than 65% of lung cancers are diagnosed at an advanced stage.
The foundation said this underlined the need to act on all fronts, including prevention, early detection and treatment innovation.
Thanks to advances in treatment, five-year survival rates have improved between the periods 2004-2008 and 2019-2023, rising from 15% to 35% for women and from 12% to 27% for men.
