Cigarette smoking is by far the biggest risk factor for lung cancer, data shows — but in a surprising turn of events, the most common form of the disease is primarily found in non-smokers.

Researchers at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) analyzed global trends in four main lung cancer subtypes: adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, small-cell carcinoma and large-cell carcinoma.

They found that adenocarcinoma has been the most “predominant subtype” in recent years, according to a press release summarizing the study. Younger females were found to be at a particularly high risk.

US NAVY VETERAN BEATS CANCER WITH EXPERIMENTAL TREATMENT AND RELIANCE ON FAITH

The study was published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine earlier this month, based on global cancer data from 2022.

Adenocarcinoma — which starts in the cells lining the air sacs in the lungs — is the most common type of lung cancer among people who have never smoked, comprising up to 50% of diagnoses in that group, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Air pollution was cited as a key driver of this type of lung cancer, with the highest levels reported in East Asia, particularly China, the release stated.

Worldwide, adenocarcinoma made up more than 45% of lung cancer cases in males and nearly 60% of female cases.

“Air pollution can lead to adenocarcinoma of the lung, which is almost 50% of lung cancers.”

“This population-based study seeks to better understand variations in lung cancer incidence by place and time according to its constituent subtypes. We examine changes in risk in different countries across successive generations and assess the potential burden of lung adenocarcinoma linked to ambient particulate matter (PM) pollution,” said lead study author Dr. Freddie Bray, head of the Cancer Surveillance Branch at IARC, in the release. 

“The results provide important insights as to how both the disease and the underlying risk factors are evolving, offering clues as to how we can optimally prevent lung cancer worldwide.”

US NAVY VETERAN BEATS CANCER WITH EXPERIMENTAL TREATMENT AND RELIANCE ON FAITH

Dr. Marc Siegel, clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Health and Fox News senior medical analyst, was not involved in the study but discussed these lung cancer trends with Fox News Digital.

“The main reason for increasing rates in non-smokers is air pollution, which can lead to adenocarcinoma of the lung, which is almost 50% of lung cancers now,” he confirmed.

Increased vaping rates are also associated with the ramp-up of lung cancer rates, the doctor noted.

Increased vaping rates are also associated with the ramp-up of lung cancer rates, according to Dr. Siegel. (iStock)

“Secondhand smoke also continues to be a factor, even though smoking rates have fallen dramatically,” Siegel said.

Genetic risk factors may also come into play and “need to be further explored,” according to the doctor.

“Artificial intelligence can play a huge role here in terms of early diagnosis and pattern recognition, even before discrete lung nodules develop,” he added. “However, lung CT scans remain the best diagnostic tool for those at risk.”

“Pollutants in the air, such as particulate matter and industrial emissions, can damage lung tissue and lead to cancer over time.”

Marianne Matzo, PhD, a certified advanced nurse practitioner in Dallas, Texas, agreed that poor air quality and pollution can contribute to lung cancer. 

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“Pollutants in the air, such as particulate matter and industrial emissions, can damage lung tissue and lead to cancer over time,” Matzo, who was not part of IARC’s research, told Fox News Digital. “This complicates the diagnosis and treatment process.”

Some veterans who have been exposed to hazardous materials may also face a higher risk of lung cancer, she noted.

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“Veterans based in the Middle East (in particular Afghanistan and Iraq) were exposed to burn pits,” said Matzo, who worked in oncology at the VA hospital. 

“The waste included paints, solvents, human and medical waste, trash, and plastics that were ignited with JP-8 jet fuel, which contains benzene.” 

One doctor told Fox News Digital that some veterans who have been exposed to hazardous materials may also face a higher risk of lung cancer. (iStock)

“We are starting to see the effects of the pollution from those pits on young vets being diagnosed with lung cancer.”

Exposure to high doses of radiation, as well as chemicals like asbestos and benzene, can also increase the risk of developing cancer, she cautioned. 

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“Bacterial and viral infections can also cause genetic mutations and chronic inflammation, which contribute to the development of cancer.”

In some cases, lung cancer can develop seemingly at random with no direct cause.

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“What people miss when they say, ‘I never smoked a day in my life, how could I have lung cancer?’ are the variables of chance and genetics,” Matzo added. “We can’t control our genetics, and there can be genetic predispositions to cancer.”

The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) has been tracking a measles outbreak in the South Plains region of the state.

The agency first confirmed the outbreak on Feb. 5, and it has since been growing.

A Tuesday update stated that 58 cases have been identified within the last three weeks as symptoms occurred.

MEASLES OUTBREAK CONTINUES IN TEXAS, CASES DOUBLE: INVESTIGATION UNDERWAY

Most of the cases have been reported in children, with 15 cases affecting kids 4 years old and younger, 33 affecting kids 5 to 17, and only six cases occurring in adults. Ages are still pending for four of the cases.

Thirteen of these patients have been hospitalized and only four are confirmed to be vaccinated, according to DSHS. The remaining patients are either unvaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status.

Forty-five measles cases have been reported in Gaines County; the others are spread across Terry County (9), Yoakum (2), Lubbock (1) and Lynn (1).

“Due to the highly contagious nature of this disease, additional cases are likely to occur in Gaines County and the surrounding communities,” DSHS reported in the update on its website.

“There is a 90% chance you will get it if you are unvaccinated and step into a room where someone with measles was two hours before.”

“DSHS is working with South Plains Public Health District and Lubbock Public Health to investigate the outbreak.”

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The agency added that the best way to prevent sickness is to receive two doses of the vaccine against measles, “primarily administered” as the combination measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) immunization.

Fox News senior medical analyst Dr. Marc Siegel commented on the threat of the spread.

The best way to prevent a measles infection is to get the combination measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, according to health officials. (iStock)

“It is spreading and there are [58] cases, but there will be hundreds because the compliance rate with the vaccine in that part of Texas is just over 80%, and we need 95% for herd immunity,” he told Fox News Digital.

Siegel described measles as the “most contagious respiratory virus on the planet.” 

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“There is a 90% chance you will get it if you are unvaccinated and step into a room where someone with measles was two hours before,” he cautioned.

“Texas in general is at risk — especially the unvaccinated and those who can’t take a live virus vaccine because they are pregnant or immunocompromised.”

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The rise in cases comes more than two decades after health agencies reported that the disease was “eliminated” in 2000.

Measles can be spread through direct contact with infectious droplets, or can be airborne when an infected person breathes, coughs or sneezes, according to officials. The virus can remain infectious in the air for up to two hours after an infected person leaves an area. 

In March 2024, multiple people living at a Chicago migrant shelter tested positive for measles. (AP/Erin Hooley)

Symptoms usually appear within a week or two, and may include a high fever, cough, runny nose, and red, watery eyes. 

A few days later, flat, red spots appear on the face and then spread down the neck to the rest of the body. People are most contagious the four days before and four days after the rash appears.

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Those who believe they may have measles or have been exposed should self-isolate and call their doctor before arriving to be tested, according to the DSHS. 

Fox News Digital’s Alexandra Koch contributed to this report.

Feelings of isolation and loneliness, as well as associated anxiety and depression, are growing everywhere — and most disturbingly, among our youth. 

Shocking data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2023 indicated that close to 60% of teen girls felt persistently sad or hopeless in 2021.

The problem is hardly confined to the United States or to North America. 

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The profoundly important Child to Adolescent Transition Study, recently published in Lancet Psychiatry — the first long-term study of its kind — revealed depression and anxiety in close to two thirds of those studied in Melbourne, Australia, the most ever found anywhere. 

In this study, which is from the Murdoch Research Children’s Institute (MCRI) in Melbourne, 64% of respondents reported at least three episodes of anxiety or depression over their teen years. 

Girls were found to be much more likely to have chronic or persistent symptoms (84% versus 61% in boys). 

Some 1,239 children were studied (enrolled at the age of 8 in 2012) and their symptoms were tracked carefully from ages 10 to 18. 

This was the first major study to follow anxiety and depression longitudinally and the first to demonstrate that the worsening periods of anxiety or depression were associated with milestones such as graduation from primary school or high school — times of major changes in a child’s support structure.

DR. MARC SIEGEL: ‘WE ARE IN TROUBLE WITH TEEN GIRLS’

Dr. Susan M. Sawyer — renowned adolescent pediatrician, leader of the Centre for Adolescent Health at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Melbourne, Australia, and chair of Adolescent Health at the University of Melbourne and the Royal Children’s Hospital — spoke to me from Melbourne in a recent interview. (See the video at the top of this article.)

She emphasized that the reason for the reported increase in anxiety is in part reflective of an increase in mental health literacy.  

Dr. Susan M. Sawyer, a renowned adolescent health expert and pediatrician based in Australia, discussed the first major study to follow anxiety and depression longitudinally in adolescents. It showed that worsening periods of anxiety or depression were associated with major milestones in kids’ lives such as school graduations.  (MCRI)

“These days there is greater mental health literacy, which leads to more reporting of symptoms,” she said. “And adolescents have a greater ability to recognize stress and emotional distress than we did and have the language for reporting it. The stigma is much less, which is healthy.”

Sawyer said she thinks the increased rates of anxiety and depression at ages 12 to 13 observed in the study were likely due to a combination of puberty along with the stress of changing to secondary education. 

“Adolescence is a time for figuring out how to gain emotional control.”

Also, “girls are more likely than boys to be exploring their emotions at this age,” she said. 

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The older group, called the second cluster, took place on graduation from secondary school; emotional symptoms were measured in such characteristic responses as “afraid,” “woke up scared” and “afraid something bad would happen to me.” 

“Adolescence is a time for figuring out how to gain emotional control,” said Sawyer. “It is a time for seeking mental health support. The ‘stiff upper lip’ approach of [older] generations was not healthy.”

“The more time spent on social media, the more lonely and the less connected [people are],” said an adolescent health expert. “We do need some system in place for delaying young people’s access to social media.” (iStock)

Unfortunately, as Sawyer pointed out, the resources for intervention remain limited in Australia, the U.S., and around the world. 

The COVID pandemic clearly played a role in worsening anxiety among our teens; yet the CATS study, based in Melbourne — where there was one of the most severe pandemic lockdowns — found that it only contributed around 25% to reported anxiety and depression. 

The problem existed before the pandemic — and it is worse now.

Concerns about social media

So what role does social media play? The concern is great enough in Australia that it is instituting a social media ban for all those under age 16, which Sawyer and other experts say is not likely to work. 

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“It is tough to implement,” she said. 

“And we still need more evidence, though it is clear that the more time spent on social media, the more lonely and the less connected [people are]. We do need some system in place for delaying young people’s access to social media,” she added. 

Further research into the role of social media is ongoing at MCRI in Australia. (iStock)

“And we do need to focus on the need for their development of independent skills, of standing on [their] own two feet without phones. Our children need a much safer place to be than social media.”

Further research into the role of social media is ongoing at MCRI. In the meantime, children are not allowed to have their phones out in schools throughout Australia. 

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“Social media is a two-edged sword,” Dr. Sawyer said. 

“On the one hand, a group that is more socially vulnerable and disconnected in a conflict situation can connect with like-minded peers and become connected via social media,” she said.

“Prevention, through more attention to the physical environment, more nature, becoming less sedentary, rethinking opportunities, focusing on well-being — this is the real path forward.” (iStock)

“But on the other hand, more time spent on distant communities is not good for young people’s health. There is excess exposure to pornography, sexting, gambling and bullying. We need to do something to help our youth to disengage.”

So what is the long-term cure for the epidemic of anxious depressed kids and their parents when we must “prioritize clinical services but can’t provide enough response”? 

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Sawyer said the focus must be on prevention. 

“Clinical responses need to be overshadowed by prevention. Schools need to be important environments to stress health and well-being – to build a greater orientation to mental health,” she said. 

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“There is a risk of glamorization of mental health problems. But prevention, through more attention to the physical environment, more nature, becoming less sedentary, rethinking opportunities, focusing on well-being — this is the real path forward.”

Visit go.fox/MCRI to donate or to learn more about MCRI’s important research.