Clinical Summary: 

• Design/Population: Population-based analysis using the Global Burden of Disease database to evaluate incidence, mortality, and risk factor trends in adolescents and young adults with tracheal, bronchial, and lung cancers globally and in the United States.
• Key Outcomes: Lung cancer mortality declined over time, largely reflecting reductions in tobacco-related disease, but remained substantial. Males continued to experience higher mortality rates, while a significant proportion of cases in adolescents and young adults, particularly among women, were associated with nonmodifiable risk factors.
• Clinical Relevance: These findings suggest that current screening strategies focused on older smokers may overlook younger at-risk populations and support further investigation into tailored screening and prevention approaches.

Ruchi Tusharkumar Jani, MBBS, discusses a population-based analysis examining global and US trends in lung cancer among adolescents and young adults. Using the Global Burden of Disease database and Joinpoint trend analyses, investigators evaluated changes in age-standardized incidence and mortality rates as well as the contribution of modifiable and nonmodifiable risk factors.

Although mortality rates have declined, lung cancer continues to represent a significant health burden in younger populations, with many cases occurring in individuals without traditional risk factors. These findings highlight the need for greater awareness of lung cancer risk in adolescents and young adults and raise important questions about future screening strategies for younger patients.

Dr Jani presented these results at the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting in Chicago, Illinois.

Transcript: 

Hello, I am Ruchi Jani. I graduated from NHL Municipal Medical College in India, and I conducted this study at the University of Miami. My study focused on analyzing trends in lung cancer among adolescents and young adults, both globally and within the United States. 

As we know, lung cancer mortality remains one of the highest among all cancers. The rationale for this study was that lung cancer in adolescents and young adults appears to be quite different from what we typically see in the older non–small cell lung cancer population. In addition, with changing tobacco use patterns and increasing air pollution, we felt it was important to better understand these trends.

For this study, we used data from the Global Burden of Disease database, or GBD database. We evaluated age-standardized incidence rates and age-standardized mortality rates and performed trend analyses using Joinpoint software.

We observed that mortality rates related to tobacco exposure have decreased over time, although they remain relatively high. We also found that the sex-based disparity in age-standardized incidence rates has narrowed. However, males still contributed disproportionately to mortality from tracheal, bronchial, and lung cancers. 

One particularly important finding was that among adolescents and young adults, approximately 20% to 25% of males and 30% to 43% of females had risk factors that appeared to be unrelated to traditional modifiable causes. This finding made us think about the need for screening strategies in this specific population, particularly for individuals who do not have traditional risk factors.

Currently, most lung cancer screening guidelines focus on older individuals with significant smoking histories. There are no specific screening recommendations for adolescents and young adults. Our study highlights the possibility that this younger population may warrant additional attention and further investigation regarding lung cancer screening strategies.

Overall, these findings emphasize the need for more research and potentially the development of screening approaches tailored to adolescents and young adults who may not fit traditional high-risk categories.

Source: 

Jani RT, Edwards K, Rauf A, et al. Lung cancer burden in AYAs: Global and US trends. Presented at the ASCO Annual Meeting. May 29 - June 2, 2026. Chicago, Illinois. 8603.