INTRODUCTION Lung cancer (LC) is the second most common cancer globally with 2,206,771 new cases and the leading cause of cancer-related deaths with 1,796,144 deaths in 2020.[ 1 ] Almost 3.3% of the world’s new LC cases and 3.7% of LC-related deaths occurred in India in 2020.[ 1 ] LC has demonstrated an increasing trend in Indian women, from 7.9% in 2008 to 27.2% in 2018.[ 2 ] It is the second leading cause of cancer mortality in men in India, whereas in women it ranks fifth.[ 1 ] In India, 73%−93% of men and 23%−50% of women were found to be smokers at the time of diagnosis of LC[ 2 ]; approximately 59% of LC dea
1
—
—