Many Nonsmokers Have Lung Nodules Linked to Cancer Risk
By Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
TUESDAY, Aug. 13, 2024 -- Many nonsmokers have lung nodules that have been linked to lung cancer, a new study warns.
About 42% of nonsmokers or former smokers have at least one lung nodule, which is a small mass of dense tissue that may be cancerous, according to chest CT scans performed on more than 10,400 people aged 45 and older.
Further, about 11% of participants had larger lung nodules measuring 6 to 8 millimeters that will require close medical scrutiny, researchers said.
“This was higher than we expected and even similar to the prevalence reported in high-risk populations of smokers,” said senior researcher Dr. Rozemarijn Vliegenthart, a professor of cardiothoracic imaging at the University Medical Center Groningen in the Netherlands.
The older people are, the greater their odds of having both more lung nodules and larger nodules, results showed.
Men were more likely than women to both have lung nodules and have multiple nodules, researchers noted.
Most of the lung nodules weren’t cancerous, Vliegenthart stressed.
“The incidence of lung cancer in this population is very low, 0.3%, suggesting that most of the clinically relevant and even actionable nodules in a nonsmoking cohort are benign,” Vliegenthart said in a university news release.
However, their presence will require follow-up scans and examination under current cancer screening guidelines, the researchers said.
The new study was published Aug. 13 in the journal Radiology.
These results indicate that the cancer screening guidelines, which are mostly based on data from smokers, might lead to many unnecessary follow-up examinations in people with low risk for lung cancer, the research team concluded.
It will be important to update these guidelines, given that smoking has been on the decline in Western nations, researchers said.
“This shift makes our study, which provides foundational and comprehensive data on lung nodules in nonsmokers, even more critical,” Vliegenthart said in a journal news release.
Besides cancer, lung nodules also can be caused by air pollution, chronic inflammatory diseases like rheumatoid arthritis or infectious diseases like tuberculosis, according to the American Lung Association (ALA).
Lung nodules in nonsmokers are often found when a person receives an X-ray or CT scan for some other health problem, such as being in a car accident, the ALA said.
Sources
- Radiological Society of North America, news release, Aug. 13, 2024
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Posted August 2024
Read this next
Many Young Vapers Make Potentially Dangerous Tweaks To Their Devices
FRIDAY, July 25, 2025 — Most teens and young adults who vape tinker with their devices, often in potentially dangerous ways, a new study says. More than 4 out of 5 young...
FDA Approves Juul E-Cigs for Sale, Years After Ban Attempt
FRIDAY, July 18, 2025 — After years of legal battles and health concerns, Juul Labs has the go-ahead to sell some of its electronic cigarettes in the United States. The...
Vaping Better At Helping Smokers Quit, Clinical Trial Indicates
TUESDAY, July 15, 2025 — Vaping might be more effective than traditional nicotine replacement therapies in helping people quit smoking, a new Australian study...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.