COLUMBUS, Ohio - The typical patient diagnosed with lung cancer—an older male smoker—is becoming less common, according to experts.

Researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute are finding that a growing number of lung cancer diagnoses are being made in people who have never smoked, and these patients are mostly young women.

Nearly 20% of all new lung cancer diagnoses in the United States occur in non-smokers. Physicians at the OSUCCC say environmental factors and genetics are the primary causes behind this shift.

“In the past, lung cancer was nearly always defined by a history of smoking,” said Dr. Ioana Baiu, a surgeon at the OSUCCC. “The number one cause for lung cancer in non-smokers

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