Asian American Lung Cancer: Rising, Deadly, and Ignored

By Jolene Jang
NAP Contributor

During Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month, we often focus on what we can celebrate—our culture, our contributions, our resilience. However, there is an urgent issue we need to confront: lung cancer.

It is the #1 cause of death for Asian Americans. Yet we barely talk about it.

Recently, I interviewed Dr. Jeffrey Velotta, a thoracic surgeon at Kaiser Permanente Northern California, on my podcast Aren’t Asians All Alike? He shared this staggering fact: 50 percent of Asian American women diagnosed with lung cancer have never smoked. That statistic alone should be national news but it is not. Since airing that episode, four people have told me they lost non-smoking Asian relatives who died of lung cancer. These are not rare tragedies. This is a silent crisis.

Why Are We Ignored?
The “model minority” myth. We are assumed to be healthy, low-risk, and low-need. The myth has made us invisible to public health data, clinical research, and funding priorities. Many Asian Americans are not even told they should consider lung cancer screening. Add to that cultural silence, many families do not talk openly about any illness. Hesitation can delay diagnosis and prevent life-saving action.

What You Can Do Right Now
If you are 50 to 80 years old and have a history of smoking — even if you quit years ago, you may qualify for free, annual, lung cancer screening. It is a low-dose CT scan (imaging test), non-invasive, painless, requires no IV (intravenous therapy). It takes minutes and could save your life.

This is not just about smokers. It is about breaking the silence:
– Share the facts. Watch the episode with Dr. Velotta. Share it with friends, family, and especially medical providers.

– Talk to your doctor. Ask if they are aware of the higher rates of lung cancer in Asian Americans—especially among non-smokers. Chances are, they do not.

– Support research. Risk varies across Asian sub-groups. Chinese, Filipino, Vietnamese, Japanese yet we are often grouped together as “Asian.” We need more disaggregated data to drive smarter prevention.

Representation Is Not Just About Media
We often talk about visibility in pop culture, politics, or leadership. We also need it in medicine, research, clinical trials, hospital protocols, and government funding. Our lives depend on it.