CHAPTER 3 Lung Cancer Susceptibility and Risk Assessment Models

Introduction
In 2007, it is estimated that there will be 213,380
new cases of lung cancer (LC) and 160,390 LC-
related deaths in the United States [1]. These deaths
represent 31% of total mortality from all cancers in
US men and 26% in women. While tobacco smok-
ing is the predominant cause of LC, a variety of
other exposures, such as family history of LC, var-
ious chronic respiratory diseases, and environmen-
tal tobacco smoke (ETS), are also linked to elevated
LC risk. Host susceptibility may also be involved in
LC risk, since only a fraction of smokers develops LC
[2–5]. Because carcinogenesis is amultistep process,
multiple molecular events during this process ac-
count for the malignant transformation upon initial
carcinogenic exposure. Understanding that multi-
ple components contributing to LC can lead to the
identification of high-risk subgroups,whomay ben-
efit from targeted screening or other interventions.
Here, we provide a summary of recent advances in
the molecular epidemiology of LC.