The devastating toll of lung cancer on families and patients puts a £2 billion cost on the UK each year, according to an analysis published today.
The annual cost of health care for every lung cancer patient is four times the average cost for cancer, researchers say.
On top of that, loss of income and unpaid care by friends and family doubles the true costs of cancer, they claim.
The figures were being reported to the National Cancer Research Institute in Liverpool, UK, today.
They reflect the impact of the disease which affects many people of working age, the researchers say.
Researcher Dr Jose Leal, of Oxford University, said: "Lung cancer costs more than any other cancer – mainly because of potential wage losses due to premature deaths from people in employment – about 60% of the total economic costs – and high health care costs.
"The death rate from the disease remains high at 56 deaths per 100,000 people in the UK population annually, and almost a quarter of these occur before retirement."
The figures show lung cancer costing some £2.4 billion a year, bowel cancer costing some £1.6 billion a year and breast cancer £1.5 billion.
Institute director Dr Jane Cope said: These figures remind us that cancer has a cost, not just in professional healthcare but also in loss of earnings for patients, and for loved ones who give up work to look after them."
Jean King, who specialises in tobacco issues at Cancer Research UK, said: "It’s vital we prevent more young people from becoming addicted to a product that will kill half of all long term smokers. Putting an end to the silent salesman of the slickly-designed, colourful tobacco packaging is a crucial step towards making cigarettes less appealing to children.
"Stopping young people taking up this deadly addiction in the first place will not only reduce the number of lung cancer cases in the future but a range of other illnesses that continue to blight the lives of so many people."
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