The aim of this study was to evaluate the individual and societal burden of lung cancer in Turkey. A total of 103 cases with lung cancer attended our department between January 2002 and February 2003 were included in our study prospectively. The primary outcome measure was the cost of disease until death of the patients or the end of study. All the costs were expressed as United States dollars (USD) and were estimated regarding the effective exchange rate at the time of recording. Descriptive statistics, chi-square, Fisher's exact test, Kaplan-Meier analysis and non-parametric "Bootsraping" tests were performed to evaluate the data. The average survival was 6.8 months. The estimated total direct cost for the entire group was 564.490 USD, and the direct cost per patient was 5.480 +/- 4.088 USD. The total cost of lung cancer in the study group was 1.473.530 USD, with a per-patient cost of 14.306 +/- 17.705 USD. The average direct cost per life year was 18.058 +/- 25.775 USD. Age, gender and histopathology did not affect the cost, whereas direct medical costs were increased with increasing stage. With the low life expectancy and cure rates, lung cancer has been alerting for the cost minimization and disease control measures.