Non-smoker lung cancer

 We've breifly written before about the strangeness of some lung cancers--notably being found in Taiwan.   See for example our June 7, 2025 blogpost.   

But today I got a note--a savage note--about non-smoker lung cancer, detailing both the death and saga of Susan Wojcicki, long-time CEO of YouTube, and key instigator of the Google founding.   Susan and her parents and siblings have long been known, and revered, in Silicon Valley among other places.

I knew Susan somewhat.   Her mother, Esther, has been a long-time researcher with my old MediaX program at Stanford, solicited by my heir there, Martha Russell.   Esther and I were both MediaX Fellows for a decade together.   Her daughter Anne founded '23 and Me', the validator of my own curious heritage to an unbelieving 2nd family circa 2008.   And Susan joined the Board of Trustees at the Computer History Museum for several years during my long sojourn there.

Susan, who never smoked, died in August, 2024, of lung cancer.   Alice Park penned an in-depth story for Time Magazine (now owned by Wojcicki family friend Mark Benioff, founder and Chairman of SalesForce), entitled "Former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki died from lung cancer in 2024.  Her family is trying to find out why."  

See https://time.com/article/2026/05/12/susan-wojcicki-foundation-lung-cancer-early-detection/

The story is extremely well-written, especially for the substantial efforts that the family is now devoting to this pernicious disease.   As the article early intones, "lung cancer kills more thatn 125,000 Americans each year, more than any other cancer. . . , (BUT) up to 20% of new cases in the US and worldwide {actually greater than 60% in Taiwan} are in non-smokers.

The family has funded and begun the Susan Wojcicki Foundation to seek answers.  As Susan's widowed husband notes: "non-smoking lung cancer . . . is the fifth largest killer of all cancers in America.  It's a crisis."

As the article describes, "the sisters soon learned that lung cancer in young non-smokers is generally driven by specific genetic mutations that are not present in smoking-related lung cancer. The good news is that there are targeted therapies that address those mutations . . .  most effective if started early in the diseasse."  But of course few doctors or patients are looking for such things early, a fact that the Foundation hopes to help change.

I will not expand on the article further here, but I commend it to you for understanding.   It is one more piece of this complex puzzle about lungs, lung disease, and death sentences that is becoming, too slowly, understood.

Ultra-small particulates

 Wheeze on, Charlie!   We've belabored the point for nigh fifteen (or is it 56) years now, that the real killer for folk who die from emphysema or COPD is this pesky sub-micron particulate 'rock' that is small enough to get into the lower lung, and often get trapped there.   My thesis, since the 1970 Colorado Air Pollution Control Commission days, is that an inert particle of that size, with an adhering toxic molecule, can create a localized "etching station"--very small, but very deadly in sufficient quantity.

And God Bless AI, which is apparently somewhat agnostic about AMA and CDC bias, has "just" discovered this phenomenon, to wit: 

While standard regulations focus on PM2.5 (under 2.5 microns), experts increasingly believe that PM1 is a superior indicator of health impacts because these tinier particles can penetrate deeper into the lungs and bloodstream. 

Particles smaller than 1 micron can bypass the body's natural filters (like the nose and throat) and reach any organ or area of the body via the bloodstream.

Currently, there is a lack of widespread regulatory monitoring for PM1 compared to PM2.5, though 95% of surveyed experts agree that PM1 is a more critical health indicator.

Key sources of submicron particles include road traffic, industrial combustion, and wood smoke (where 90% of particles are under 1 micron).

A landmark study published in The Lancet Planetary Health by researchers at Washington University in St. Louis has quantified submicron particulate matter (PM1)—particles less than 1 micron in diameter—across the United States over a 25-year period.

You may recall that I referenced that study in last month's post, but I did not include the citation nor the detail then.   Here is the reference: https://source.washu.edu/2025/06/tiny-and-toxic-researchers-track-smaller-air-pollution-particles-across-us-skies/.   Title of the article by Leah Shaffer (June 16, 2025) is "Tiny and toxic: Researchers track smaller air pollution particles across US skies."

There is one suggestive diagram included in the article, for 2022 ambient conditions (a year with notable forest fire activity across the western US.   That diagram shows a few stand-out areas, notably California's Central Valley (where I lived and studied this phenomenon for a decade), Los Angeles with its long history of 'smog' trapped by the Sierra Madre mountains, and some Oregon and Idaho firesites.  Not much for Colorado, which surprises me.

It is also well worth noting the 'haze' for the eastern part of the United States, a result of the unusually heavy concentration of coal-fired power plants east of the Mississippi (up 600% since 1970).   Also note that this is NOT mentioned in the AI summary, instead citing cars and industrial emissions and forest fires.   Ah, well.

The report says it has been studying this since 1998.   I will try to get some time-correlation plots from Washington University.

Dare I dance a little vindication jig?