Lung cancer.

Lung cancer was the leading cause of cancer deaths in North Carolina in 2012 (29.6%). It has been the leading cause of cancer deaths in North Carolina for over two decades. It was estimated that 8,624 people in North Carolina would be diagnosed with lung cancer and 6,180 people in North Carolina would die from lung cancer in 2014.1 The American Cancer Society reports that lung cancer death rates began declining in 1991 for men and in 2003 for women, and reflects the change in smoking patterns over the past 50 years.2