Lung cancer risk factors in the borderland

November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month — Here in the borderland, there are many risk factors that can make El Pasoans suceptible to developing lung cancer.

While smoking is the leading cause for lung cancer -- pollution also increases the risk of it. 

Dr. Landy Luna Diaz is a Pulmonary Critical Care Attendee at UMC who says as of February this year, there are 16,000 cases a year in El Paso and 40,000 statewide.

People living by factories and highway exposed to air contamination, breathing in particles and heavy metals — especially with other conditions like asthma — can develop inflammation in the lungs and become more susceptible to getting lung cancer.

But it's harder to measure how much it contributes to lung cancer.

Dr. Luna Diaz says doctors mostly tell people to quit smoking, but she believes there are better solutions.

"I do feel we should also be focusing more on implementing regulatory policies that will decrease this production of this all these contaminants and pollution that definitely like on are high risk for lung cancer development," says Dr. Luna Diaz.

Lung cancer can be asymptomatic in the early stages, but people can develop a consistent cough, a lot of pleghm, weight loss, and coughing up blood in the later stages.

The second leading cause of lung cancer is exposure to radon gas, which goes unnoticeable when there's no proper ventilation in a home.

Vaping also increases the chances because the liquids become carcinogenic after heating them.

Lung cancer extremely deadly, 75% of people diagnosed with lung cancer die within five years.

"We don't screen our population as much as we should," Luna Diaz explains. "So we truly believe, like, El Paso has a very under diagnosis of lung cancer, which is actually very concerning."

She recommends to check air quality and wear a mask before leaving the house especially if you live around factories.