What's the average age for lung cancer?

What influences early (under age 45) lung cancer vs lung cancer in people much older (60,70+)?

• I read that approximately 3% of lung cancers occur in individuals under 45. Can anyone tell me either through experience as an oncologist or point me to a study that describes any correlation between risk factors and the specific age of diagnosis. For example if you had 100 people under 45 with lung cancer and 100 people over 60 with lung cancer, are there different causes or different doses of carcinogens between the two groups? Is it safe to assume that the larger the dose of things like cigaratte smoke, radon, asbestos - the earlier the lung cancer? Any insight by a medical expert is appreciated. Thanks.

• Answer:

  No one knows what causes cancer. We know it takes about 25 years after exposure to asbestos to manifest, which does not always occur in the mesothelium of the lungs. Not all smokers get lung cancer. The youngest person I saw with lung cancer was 32 years-old, had a previous thyroid cancer and was at Chernobyl when she was 8 years old.