I recently heard on WPVI 6 ABC "Inside Story," hosted by Tamala Edwards, more than 400 people a day die from lung cancer.

Jeff Jubelirer, a weekly commentator on the show and advocate for the nonprofit organization "Free to Breathe" said lung cancer is not just a smoker's disease.

According to freetobreathe.org, more than 49 percent of people who used to smoke, and less than 40 percent of people who currently smoke and 10 to 15 percent of people who have never smoked comprise new cases of lung cancer.

Smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer with exposure to radon the second leading cause and the leading cause in people who have never smoked.

People who have never smoked account for between 20,000 and 30,000 lung cancer diagnoses every year.

Other risk factors for lung cancer include lung scarring from tuberculosis, occupational or environmental exposure to secondhand smoke, radiation, asbestos, air pollution, arsenic and some organic chemicals.

According to the American Cancer Society, lung cancer is the second most common cancer in both men and women, but is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States.

There are three main types of lung cancer: non-small cell (most common type), small cell and lung carcinoid tumor.

According to the ACS, about 85 percent of lung cancers are non-small cell lung cancers. Subtypes of non-small cell include squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma and large cell carcinoma.

Small cell lung cancer is also called oat cell cancer and about 10-15 percent of lung cancers are small cell lung cancers.

Fewer than 5 percent of lung cancers are lung carcinoid tumors, which are also sometimes called lung neuroendocrine tumors.

Knowing which type of cancer a patient has is important because it affects treatment options and prognosis.

Coming from a family with a history of asthma and allergies, I know firsthand how second-hand smoke can affect breathing.

As a child, I needed to use an inhaler to help me breathe whenever I was around someone who was smoking.

November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month.

Encourage all the smokers in your life to stop smoking.

Smokers, stop for the health of your family and friends as well as your own health, save a life.

Lung cancer kills.

Susan Bryant

editorial assistant

Parkland Press

Northwestern Press