Lung cancer seriously endangers human health and is a major public health problem. The Xuanwei region in northeastern Yunnan province has one of the highest lung cancer mortality rates in the world. In the past ten years, researchers have explored and revealed the causes and molecular mechanisms of the high incidence of lung cancer in Xuanwei from different perspectives. Significant progress has been made in the study of its special environmental factors to molecular mechanisms such as genetic susceptibility, DNA methylation, and noncoding RNA. This paper reviews the research progress on the characteristics and risk factors of lung cancer in Xuanwei area.