Lung Cancer Is Hitting Young, Healthy Women

Christy Houvouras exercises daily, eats clean, and has smoked fewer than 20 cigarettes in her entire life. She got diagnosed with lung cancer at 36 anyway.

"It was really unfair," said the West Virginia mother of two. "I do everything I can in my control to take care of myself… It did not make sense that I had something that was associated with an unhealthy person and unhealthy habits."

Lung cancer is the second most common cancer in both men and women in the U.S., according to the American Cancer Society. Traditionally, it shows up in older patients who smoked—specifically men. That pattern is changing.

The CDC says up to 20% of new lung cancer diagnoses now occur in people who never smoked. And they're mostly women.

"Overall, the number of lung cancer incidences is slowly decreasing but it's not decreasing nearly as fast in women as men," said Dr. Iona Baiu, thoracic surgeon at Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center. "We're seeing a shift in trends now and seeing patients who are younger and patients who are never smokers, who we never used to see."

What's Causing It

Cancer experts point to three main culprits: radon exposure, air pollution, and genetic mutations.

Radon is the big one. It's an odorless, colorless radioactive gas that forms when radioactive metals like uranium, thorium, and radium break down in rocks, soil, and groundwater. It gets into homes through cracks and gaps in buildings. You breathe it in without knowing.

Houvouras suspects she was exposed to radon in her childhood home in Greenville, South Carolina. The EPA designated that area as having the highest potential for elevated indoor radon levels.

"The crazy thing about lung cancer is that you can be exposed at a young age and then you won't have a developing tumor until decades later," she said. After her diagnosis, she installed a radon mitigation system in her current home to protect her 1-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter.

Catching It Early Matters

Houvouras considers herself lucky despite the diagnosis. Her cancer got caught at stage 1, which meant surgeons only needed to remove the tumor and 20% of her lung. No chemotherapy required.

Three weeks after diagnosis, she was home recovering. Cancer-free.

"At stage 1, lung cancer can be surgically removed, usually without the need for further treatment like chemotherapy," said Baiu, who's 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."

Early detection makes all the difference. The problem is, annual screening recommendations only target patients who smoke or have smoking history. That leaves nonsmokers unprotected until symptoms appear or they accidentally discover something's wrong.

The Symptoms Nobody Expects

Common lung cancer symptoms include persistent cough, chest pain, unexplained weight loss, shortness of breath, and new onset wheezing, according to the American Cancer Society.

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

These "accidental" diagnoses among young nonsmoking patients happen more often than people realize, Baiu said. Most wouldn't think to connect random symptoms to lung cancer when they're 36, healthy, and never smoked.

"Christy is the perfect example of health. She exercises, she eats healthy, she never smokes, never drinks, she does everything by the book, and she was 36," Baiu said. "Nobody would have expected lung cancer in her."

Why Women Are Getting Hit Harder

The shift toward women is clear but not fully explained. Lung cancer rates are dropping overall as fewer people smoke, but the decline is much slower in women than men.

Air pollution likely plays a role. So do genetic mutations that have nothing to do with lifestyle choices. And radon exposure affects everyone regardless of how healthy they live.

The problem is screening protocols haven't caught up to this demographic shift. Annual lung cancer screening targets smokers and former smokers. If you never smoked, you're not getting screened until something feels wrong.

By then, the cancer might have progressed past stage 1 where surgery alone can fix it.

Advocate for Yourself

Houvouras brought up a swollen area to her doctor during a routine visit. She's cancer-free now because she noticed something wrong, mentioned it to her doctor, and followed through on testing. Three weeks from diagnosis to surgery to recovery.

That's how it should work. Catch it early, remove it, move on. But only if you're paying attention and willing to advocate when something feels off.

Know the symptoms. Test your home for radon. Don't dismiss concerns because you think you're too young or too healthy. Houvouras thought the same thing until she wasn't.

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