Rise in young women with lung cancer who never smoked causes concern, Radon to blame.

Adrianna Rodriguez

USA TODAY

Christy Houvouras exercises daily, eats healthily and has smoked fewer than 20 cigarettes in her lifetime.

So she was shocked when she was diagnosed with lung cancer in July at just 36 years old.

“It was really unfair,” said the mother of two from Huntington, West Virginia. “I do everything I can in my control to take care of myself ... It did not make sense.”

Lung cancer is the second most common cancer in the United States, according to the American Cancer Society. Traditionally, it is associated with older patients, specifically men who smoked, said Dr. Iona Baiu, thoracic surgeon at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center.

However, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says up to 20% of new diagnoses are now made in people who never smoked. And they’re mostly occurring in women, Baiu said.

“Overall, the number of lung cancer incidences is slowly decreasing, but it’s not decreasing nearly as fast in women as men,” she said. “We’re seeing a shift in trends now and seeing patients who are younger and patients who are neversmokers, who we never used to see.”

Cancer experts say radon levels in the home, air pollution and genetic mutations are mainly driving this trend.

Radon is an odorless, colorless radioactive gas that forms when radioactive metals break down in rocks, soil and groundwater, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

People are typically exposed to radon through cracks and gaps in buildings and homes. Houvouras suspects she was exposed in her childhood home in Greenville, South Carolina, which the EPA has designated as having the highest potential for elevated indoor radon levels. Her diagnosis led her to install a radon mitigation system in her home to protect her 1-year-old son and 3-yearold daughter.

Houvouras still considers herself lucky. Her cancer was caught at stage 1, which meant she only needed surgery to remove the tumor and 20% of her lung, without further treatments like chemotherapy. Within three weeks of her diagnosis, she was recovering at home, cancer- free.

“At stage 1, lung cancer can be surgically removed, usually without the need for further treatment like chemotherapy,” said Baiu, who is also an assistant professor at Ohio State College of Medicine. “At stage 2, the lung cancer has spread to the lymph nodes and patients will need systemic therapy in addition to surgery.”

It’s important to catch lung cancer early – but annual screening recommendations target only patients who smoke or have a history of smoking. Experts say knowing the signs of lung cancer could make all the difference for nonsmoking patients. Some of the most common symptoms include a persistent cough, chest pain, unexplained weight loss, shortness of breath and new onset of wheezing, according to the American Cancer Society.

For Houvouras, it was a swollen area on her chest. She brought it up to her obstetrician during an annual wellness visit, which kicked off tests and scans that ultimately confirmed her cancer diagnosis.

These “accidental” cancer diagnoses among young, nonsmoker patients are more common than people might think, Baiu said. She urges patients to stand up for themselves and their health, as Houvouras did. “Nobody would have expected lung cancer in her,” Baiu said. “She advocated for herself, which I think is really important.”