Break out your dingy gray ribbons because November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month!
Hooray!
No, you will not see a Lung Cancer Awareness iPod or cute lung cancer apparel, or little lung cancer teddy bears. There will be no product tie-ins here. No NFL games supporting lung cancer, none of that. Not that I'd want it. The exploitation of a disease to sell product, or boost brand, or for any other financial gain just doesn't feel right. But what do I know?
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Approximately 219,000 people are diagnosed with lung cancer in the U.S. each year – over 103,000 women and nearly 116,000 men.
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Lung cancer kills more than 160,000 people annually – more people than breast, colon and prostate cancers combined.
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Lung cancer is responsible for more than 28% of all cancer-related deaths every year.
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Smoking is the primary cause of lung cancer. Approximately 87 percent of lung cancer cases occur in people who are currently smoking or have previously smoked.
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Although the risk of developing lung cancer goes down with smoking cessation, a significant risk remains for 20 years or longer after quitting.
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Approximately 50 percent of all lung cancers (106,500) occur in people who have already quit smoking.
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Radon exposure is the second leading cause of lung cancer, and the leading cause of lung cancer among never-smokers.
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More people who have never smoked die from lung cancer than do people from AIDS or liver cancer or ovarian cancer.
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Risk factors for lung cancer other than those from smoking include lung scarring from tuberculosis, and occupational or environmental exposures to radon, second-hand smoke, radiation, asbestos, air pollution, arsenic and some organic chemicals.
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Only 16 percent of lung cancer patients are diagnosed before their disease has spread to other parts of their bodies, (e.g., regional lymph nodes and beyond), compared to more than 50 percent of breast cancer patients, and 90 percent of prostate cancer patients.
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Roughly 84 percent of people diagnosed with lung cancer die within five years of their diagnosis, compared to 11 percent of breast cancer and less than 1 percent of prostate cancer patients.
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Less money is spent on lung cancer research than on research on other cancers. In 2007, the National Cancer Institute estimated it spent only it spent only $1,415 per lung cancer death compared to $13,991 per breast cancer death, $10,945 per prostate cancer death, and $4,952 per colorectal cancer.
I don't know what the numbers are for people who have never smoked, never been around radon, never been around asbestos, or never been around much smoke. Like myself. More research needs to be done.
Visit the National Lung Cancer Partnership for more information.
