Dr Helen Croker, assistant director of research and policy at World Cancer Research Fund, said the toll of cancer cases caused by toxic air could “only be addressed by a concerted government effort to reduce air pollution”.
Exposure to toxic air was attributed to 515 men and 590 women in the UK in 2022 getting adenocarcinoma – now the most dominant of the four main subtypes of lung cancer – an analysis by the World Health Organization’s cancer agency found.
Air pollution causing more than 1,000 cases of lung cancer subtype a year in UK Exclusive: Health experts and cancer charities say findings should serve as wake-up call to ministers.
Lucy Clark, cancer intelligence manager at Cancer Research UK, said: “While tobacco remains the biggest cause of lung cancer in the UK, the disease can affect anyone, including people who’ve never smoked.
Adenocarcinoma accounted for 45.6% of global lung cancer cases among men and 59.7% of global lung cancer cases among women in 2022.
