Christy Houvour exercises daily, eats right and has smoked less than 20 cigarettes in her lifetime.
That’s why she was shocked when she was diagnosed with lung cancer in July, aged just 36.
“It was really unfair,” said the mother of two from Huntington, West Virginia. “I do everything I can to take care of myself… It didn’t make sense that I had something that was associated with an unhealthy person and unhealthy habits.
According to the American Cancer Society, lung cancer is the second most common cancer in both men and women in the United States.
This type of cancer has traditionally been associated with older patients, particularly male smokers, said Dr. Iona Baiu, a thoracic surgeon at Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Christy Houvour, 37, still exercises daily after surgeons removed 20% of her lungs to treat lung cancer.
However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that up to 20% of new diagnoses now occur in people who have never smoked. And they’re more common in women, Baiu said.
“Overall, the incidence of lung cancer is slowly declining, but not as fast in women as in men,” she said. “Now we’re seeing a change in trends and we’re seeing younger patients and never-smoking patients that we never used to see.”
Cancer experts say radon levels in the home, air pollution and genetic mutations are largely responsible for the trend.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, radon is an odorless, colorless radioactive gas that forms when radioactive metals such as uranium, thorium, and radium decay in rocks, soil, and groundwater. People are usually exposed to radon through cracks and gaps in buildings and homes.
Christy Houvour, 37, of Huntington, West Virginia, reads to her son at bedtime.
Houvour suspects she was exposed to radon at her childhood home in Greenville, South Carolina, which the EPA listed as having the highest elevated indoor radon levels.
“The crazy thing about lung cancer is that you can get it at a young age and then it’s decades later,” she said. Her diagnosis prompted the Houvours to install a radon mitigation system in their home to protect their 1-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter.
Despite suffering from lung cancer, Houvour still considers himself lucky. Her cancer was stage 1, which meant she only needed surgery to remove the tumor and 20% of her lung, with no further treatment such as chemotherapy.
Within three weeks of her diagnosis, she was recovering at home from surgery, cancer-free.
“Early stage lung cancer can be surgically removed, usually without the need for further treatment such as chemotherapy,” said Baiu, who is also an assistant professor at Ohio State College of Medicine. “In stage 2, the lung cancer has spread to the lymph nodes and patients will need systemic treatment in addition to surgery.”
Christy Houvour plays doctor with her 3-year-old daughter at her home in Huntington, West Virginia.
Catching lung cancer early is important, but annual screening recommendations are limited to patients who smoke or have smoked. That’s why cancer experts say knowing the signs and symptoms of lung cancer for non-smokers can be crucial.
According to the American Cancer Society, some of the most common symptoms of lung cancer include a persistent cough, chest pain, unexplained weight loss, shortness of breath, and new wheezing.
Houvour it was a swollen area on the chest. She reported this to her midwife during her annual wellness visit, which led to several tests and scans that eventually confirmed her cancer diagnosis.
Baiu said these “incidental” cancer diagnoses among young, non-smoking patients are more common than people think. She encourages patients to advocate for themselves and their health, as Houvour did.
“Christy is the epitome of health. She works out, eats healthy, never smokes, never drinks, does everything by the book, she was 36 years old. No one would have expected her to have lung cancer,” she said. “She stood up for herself, which I think is really important and I encourage patients to do the same.
Adrianna Rodriguez can be reached at adrodriguez@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared in USA TODAY: Lung cancer on the rise in young, healthy women. Why?