A troubling health disparity is emerging in lung cancer cases among people who have never smoked, with Asian communities facing disproportionate risk. People of Asian descent appear to be at higher risk for developing lung cancer even without tobacco exposure, according to researchers examining the changing demographics of the disease.
Women overall face twice the likelihood of developing these tumors compared to men, but the intersection of gender and ethnicity creates particular vulnerability for Asian women. Environmental factors including air pollution, occupational hazards, and cooking fumes are driving many of these cases, with cultural patterns potentially increasing exposure for women who spend more time cooking indoors.
“In many cultures around the world, women are the ones in the home dealing with the cooking and exposed to that type of air pollution,” said Deborah Caswell, a lung cancer biologist at University College London. Women may also face greater exposure while walking on polluted roads with children.
The disparity extends to diagnosis and screening access. Current screening recommendations only cover people who smoke or have smoked, leaving never-smokers without early detection options even when they face elevated risk. Taiwan has begun screening never-smokers with family history of the disease, while New York researchers are testing screening outcomes specifically for women of Asian descent who have never smoked.
These cancers are often diagnosed at advanced stages, partly because doctors don’t suspect lung cancer in young, female nonsmokers presenting with nonspecific symptoms like persistent coughs or shoulder pain.
See: “Lung cancer in ‘never-smokers’ draws new focus — and questions” (February 11, 2026)
