text: what are the chances of getting lung cancer after 30 years of being smoke free? my father is 80 and has not smoked for 30 years.  he was just diagnosed with small cell lung cancer and will be undergoing an aggressive chemo/radiation therapy.  can an individual get lung cancer after not smoking for 30 years or do you think there is another variable causing the cancer? my friend just went through this with his mom.  she was diagosed with small cell lung cancer after quitting smoking for 18 years.  the doctors explained that just because you quit smoking does not mean you will never get cancer.  it still can happen!