[Lung cancer: epidemiology and screening]

Lung cancer: epidemiology and screening. The incidence of lung cancer in France is estimated 39 495 cases in 2012. Lung cancer is thus the second cancer in men after prostate cancer, and the third after breast cancer and colorectal cancer in women. Epidemiology of lung cancer is changing, with currently ongoing therapeutic innovation translating into mortality reduction. The main risk factor for lung cancer is tobacco-smoking, alongside genetic, occupational, and professional causes. Diagnosis is made at a metastatic stage for more than half of the patients, with limited survival despite treatment. Conversely, when diagnosed at an early stage, lung cancer is eligible to surgical resection, leading to a survival of more than 85% at 5 years. This leads to discuss the opportunity of screening in smokers.