Lung Cancer Prediction by Smoking and exposure to air pollution

How does the risk of lung cancer vary across different levels of smoking and air pollution exposure?

Project Summary

Lung cancer is the second most common cancer in the United States as of 2024. Drawing from a study conducted by Nature Medicine on over 462,000 individuals in China, who lived in areas with varying levels of air pollution, we aim to elucidate the relationship between lung cancer risk and air pollution. In our analysis, atmospheric conditions were treated as a categorical variable to assess their impact on lung cancer risk. Our findings indicate that individuals residing in more polluted environments are at a higher risk for lung cancer. A person who is exposed to a lot of air pollution is at a greater risk for lung cancer than a heavy smoker, with an estimated difference in their impacts being 0.11(± 0.04) on an 8 point scale.