(HealthDay News) -- The disturbing truth about lung cancer is that while smoking is a primary avoidable cause, non-smokers can contract lung cancer, too.
Besides smoking, risk factors may include environmental exposure to such carcinogens as radon in the home or workplace, or a family history of the disease, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Lung cancer is the second-leading cancer killer of men, and the second for white and Native American women in the United States. It is the third most common cancer killer of black, Asian, and Hispanic women.
Symptoms of the disease include shortness of breath, coughing that doesn't go away, chest pain, coughing up blood, wheezing, fever, and weight loss.
If you have these symptoms, talk with your doctor immediately, even if you've never smoked.
