Chicago doctors and public-health experts are raising alarms as local and national signals point to a worrisome rise in lung cancer among younger women. The shift is prompting hard questions about what’s driving it, whether screening is keeping up, and if Chicago’s most vulnerable neighborhoods are getting the protections they need.
On Wednesday, FOX 32 Chicago’s ChicagoNOW aired a segment featuring Dr. Juanita Mora, an allergist-immunologist and volunteer spokesperson for the American Lung Association, who walked through possible causes, current screening guidelines, and steps women can take to protect their health. The segment framed the trend as part of a national pattern that could have very local consequences for clinicians and policymakers.
What the data shows
National surveillance is beginning to reflect the shift. According to PubMed Central, lung cancer incidence among people younger than 65 was higher in women than in men in 2021 — a reversal of long-standing patterns that researchers say warrants closer study.
Pollution and other suspects
Local physicians point to environmental exposures as one plausible contributor alongside changing tobacco and vaping patterns. The American Lung Association’s 2025 “State of the Air” report ranks the Chicago–Naperville metro among the worst U.S. regions for ozone and year-round particle pollution and warns that particle pollution can contribute to lung disease and cancer.
What doctors are saying
On the ChicagoNOW segment, Dr. Mora urged women to take persistent cough, unexplained shortness of breath, or chest pain seriously and bring those symptoms to a clinician’s attention. She also emphasized that risk discussions are increasingly individualized — not all lung cancers occur in long-time smokers — and clinicians should consider a patient’s full exposure history.
Who qualifies for screening
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends annual low-dose CT screening for adults aged 50 to 80 with a 20–20-pack-year smoking history who currently smoke or quit within the past 15 years. People who don’t meet those criteria — including many younger or never-smoking women — generally fall outside standard screening, complicating efforts to catch disease early.
Screening gaps and next steps
Access remains uneven: a national analysis found that only a minority of eligible adults received low-dose CT screening, leaving missed opportunities for early detection. At the same time, the National Cancer Institute notes that lung cancer in never-smokers — linked to factors such as radon, second-hand smoke, and occupational exposures — accounts for a substantial share of cases and requires expanded research and public-health attention.
Practical steps for Chicagoans
Experts say a few basics go a long way: quit smoking or get help to quit, test homes for radon, follow local air-quality alerts, and talk to a primary-care doctor about symptoms or screening. The American Lung Association and local health groups are also pressing for stronger pollution controls and more outreach to communities most affected by poor air.
