Pope Leo XIV has lung cancer despite never smoking. Lung cancer screening only targets people who did

When many people think of an average lung cancer patient, they often imagine an older man smoking .

But the face of lung cancer has changed.

Over the past 15 years, more women, never smokers and younger people are being diagnosed with lung cancer.

In fact, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among women , and more women die from lung cancer than breast, ovarian and colorectal cancer each year.

The American Lung Association reports that while lung cancer rates have risen by 79% for women over the last 44 years, they decreased by 43% for men .

And for the first time in history, there are more young women than men diagnosed with lung cancer.

News about Pope Leo XIV’s lung cancer diagnosis on Oct.

13, 2026, sparked discussion about increasing rates of the disease among people who have never smoked.

Leo reportedly is not a smoker .

Potential causes for the disease include environmental exposures and genetics, and recognizing the diverse factors that can increase someone’s risk of lung cancer – regardless of their smoking history – is essential for timely and appropriate screening and treatment.

Cancer that is found at the earliest stages, like that of the pope, can be treated with surgery and cured for both smokers and nonsmokers.

The challenge is that people who have never smoked are not currently included in lung cancer screening guidelines , and tumors are often only found by chance.

As a thoracic oncologist , I have seen many younger women and never smokers walk into my clinic with a new diagnosis of lung cancer.

Particularly for never smokers, lung cancer is unexpected for both patients and their doctors, which can often lead to delays in diagnosis.