U.S. Cancer Statistics Lung Cancer Stat Bite
In the United States in 2020—
- 197,453 new lung cancers were reported.
- 136,084 people died from lung cancer.
Males had higher rates of getting and dying from lung cancer than females.
Stage Distribution
From 2016 to 2020, nearly half of all lung cancers were diagnosed at a distant stage, meaning the cancer had spread from the lungs to distant parts of the body. About one-fourth of lung cancers were found at a localized stage (the cancer had not spread outside the lungs) or regional stage (the cancer had spread from the lungs to nearby lymph nodes, tissues, or organs).
5-Year Relative Survival
26% of lung cancer patients who were diagnosed from 2013 to 2019 had not died from their cancer 5 years later.
Most lung cancers are found after the cancer has spread to other parts of the body, when survival is lowest. Lung cancer screening can find cancer earlier, when treatment works better. Lung cancer screening is recommended for people who are at high risk because of their smoking history and age.
Among people diagnosed with lung cancer from 2015 to 2019, 425,015 were still alive on January 1, 2020.
2020 cancer incidence was lower than in 2019, and this may have been because of the effect the COVID-19 pandemic had on cancer screening, diagnosis, and reporting to some central cancer registries in 2020. This report uses cancer incidence statistics from 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic did not affect survival and prevalence statistics that use data through 2019. For more information, see Highlights From 2020 Incidence.
For more cancer data, visit U.S. Cancer Statistics. Use the Data Visualizations tool to make your own tables, graphs, and maps.
Data Sources
Data are from U.S. Cancer Statistics, the official federal cancer statistics.
U.S. Cancer Statistics incidence data are from population-based registries that participate in CDC’s National Program of Cancer Registries (NPCR), the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program, or both programs and met high-quality data criteria for the 2022 data submission, covering 97% of the U.S. population.
U.S. Cancer Statistics death data are from CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics National Vital Statistics System and cover 100% of the U.S. population.
U.S. Cancer Statistics survival and prevalence data are from 39 NPCR registries that met high-quality data criteria for the 2022 data submission and conducted linkage with the National Death Index and/or active patient follow-up, covering 83% of the U.S. population. Five-year relative survival estimates are based on cases diagnosed from 2013 to 2019. Five-year limited-duration prevalence estimates are based on cases diagnosed from 2015 to 2019.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. U.S. Cancer Statistics Lung Cancer Stat Bite. US Department of Health and Human Services; 2023.