Pennsylvania has seen improvement over the past five years in the diagnosis rate and survivability of lung cancer, but more can be done.

These are among the trends examined in the American Lung Association’s 2025 “State of Lung Cancer” report being released Wednesday, Nov. 5.

“In the last decade, we have seen incredible progress, including increases in lung cancer survival and early detection rates,” stated Elizabeth Hensil, director of advocacy for the American Lung Association. ”This means that more people in Pennsylvania are living longer after a lung cancer diagnosis.”

Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer deaths in Pennsylvania and across the U.S., according to the association’s eighth annual “State of Lung Cancer.”

Close to 227,000 Americans will be diagnosed this year. That works out to a new case diagnosed across the nation about every two minutes, and each day more than 360 people die from the illness.

Tobacco use remains the leading risk factor for lung cancer, accounting for 80-90% of cases, according to the American Lung Association. Secondhand smoke has also been demonstrated to cause lung cancer, while radon is the second-leading cause and the No. 1 cause among nonsmokers.

With 14.9% of adults identifying as smokers, Pennsylvania ranks 40th out of 50 states and the District of Columbia, according to the 2025 report; nationally, 11.4% of adults smoke. Pennsylvania also is on the high end of radon risk, ranking 39th out of 51 for radon results equal to or higher than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s action level.

The report points to positive trends like the increase in the lung cancer survival rate five years after diagnosis from 26% to 29.7% nationally. But it highlights challenges that include recent funding and staffing cuts to the National Institutes of Health and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as cuts to Medicaid and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) health-care coverage.

Serving as “both a guidepost and rallying call,” the American Lung Association says its annual report seeks to provide policymakers, researchers, health-care providers, patients and caregivers “a means to identify where their state can best focus its resources to decrease the toll of lung cancer.”

In other comparisons to states examined — not all states or the District of Columbia were ranked for all aspects of the annual study — the 2025 report finds that Pennsylvania ranks: