> Lung cancer mainly occurs in older people. About 2 out of 3 people diagnosed with lung cancer are 65 or older, while less than 2% are younger than 45. The average age at the time of diagnosis is about 70.
[honest question] Could this have any impact on the perceived priority of studying lung cancer? (i.e., you're already near EOL when diagnosed with it?)
20 years is a long time... everything you do between 15 and 35? The majority of life's accomplishments for most -- you could do that all over again between 65 and 85, now with the capital and experience to do something interesting.
I think computer-assisted medical developments might push that out another 5 years in the next decade or two; so the life expectancy is 25 instead of 20 from age 65.
I was having a great day.
No reason for your day to be spoiled!
Granted, that's the 33 percentile for age of diagnosis. In the UK at least, median age at death is more like 75 [1].
But...for breast cancer median age of death is also about 75. [2]
AFAIK there isn't a dramatic age difference.
[1] http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/health-professional/cancer-s...
[2] http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/health-professional/cancer-s...
Not to be picky, but the US stats are mean, which is different from the median.