I lost my dad to lung cancer in 1978. He had the disease for 7 years and when he died he was only 49 years old. Then my sister got uterine Cancer, got that taken care of and then started coughing. She had lung cancer. She was the BEST sister ever and is always missed. She died on June 15, 2013. She was only 59 years old. She never smoked a day in her life.