Last year, my sister's friend succumbed to lung cancer. She survived 3 years of torment by this vicious illness. It spread to her bones, which is the most painful reported type of carcinoma. It is unfortunate that she had to suffer this ordeal when she has not smoked a single cigarette in her life! An officemate had a recurring cough that I initially treated as a case of allergy. He responded to the medications I gave so I thought it was just that. I didn’t know that few weeks ago, the cough became persistent, and it was accompanied by shortness of breath with exertion. He managed to have a chest x-ray taken and to the surprise of everyone, he has two nodular masses on his right middle lung lobe, with lytic changes on the adjacent ribs. He is scheduled for CT scan and bronchoscopy with biopsy for further evaluation. Impression at this time is Infectious process versus carcinoma. He is also a non-smoker but claims to be constantly in the company of smokers! Research...