Lung Cancer Awareness
In October, I shared my personal story of a family member who had lung cancer. My Uncle Ralph was a special man and I wish he was here today to witness the advancements made in the diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer. He is one big reason why I’m sharing this informative blog post with you today. I think lung cancer is something that we need to talk about.
Last month was Lung Cancer Awareness Month. It initially started in 1995 as Lung Cancer Awareness Day, but has grown into a month-long program for the month of November. During this time, you may have seen social media campaigns and other awareness activities informing the public about this disease. Uncle Ralph passed away in 1996 and I often wonder if he knew that there was a day (and now an entire month) dedicated to lung cancer. I think he’d be happy to learn about this public awareness campaign. There is so much about lung cancer that people don’t know.
For starters, did you know that Lung cancer is the leading cancer killer of both men and women in the United States? It causes more deaths each year than colon, breast and prostate cancers combined and accounts for 14% of all cancer diagnoses. 1 in 4 deaths are from lung cancer. I only recently learned this fact and was shocked. I had no clue that it was that prevalent because it isn’t a cancer that you regularly hear about. Let’s work on changing that by spreading information about lung cancer with our friends and family.
Did you also know that 430,000 people alive today have been diagnosed with lung cancer at some point in their lives? That’s more than the population of some cities! It makes you wonder why more people aren’t talking about it.
Each case of lung cancer is different and there are many sub-types that are treated differently. It’s so important for people diagnosed with lung cancer to find out exactly what type of cancer they have. Lung cancer treatment isn’t “one size fits all”. Thankfully, people with lung cancer can find out exactly what type of cancer they have through biomarker testing, a type of genetic testing, and their doctor can plan their treatment options accordingly.
Even though lung cancer is a very scary diagnosis to receive, there is hope. Nowadays, doctors have a better understanding of the biology of the disease and have more diagnosis and treatment options than ever before. There is even hope that one day lung cancer can be treated as a chronic disease. I’m happy to hear that positive progress is being made on all fronts.
If you know someone with lung cancer, I encourage you to join me in spreading the word. Talk about the disease, the new biomarker testing and treatment options and show your support for the thousands of people bravely facing lung cancer right now. Let’s fight the stigma together. I hope that you came away from reading my post today feeling more informed about lung cancer and can see how much this discussion matters.
I encourage you to visit LVNGWith to learn more about lung cancer and genetic testing. If you share on social media, please use the hashtag #LCAM.
Was there anything I shared today about lung cancer that surprised you?
Connect with LVNG With Lung Cancer on Facebook and Instagram.
Disclosure: I have received information and materials from AstraZeneca. The opinions stated are my own. This is a sponsored post.
My father passed away from lung cancer.
Thanks for this post. My grandfather passed away from Lung Cancer. He hadn’t smoked a day in his life.
My Papa passed away from lung cancer, so this is a cause near and dear to my heart. He was a smoker, but had quit MANY years before he got cancer.
Thank you so much for sharing all this information,many facts i did not know.I we have all been touched by one or another form of Cancer.
I didn’t realize that Lung cancer was THAT prevalent! I knew that it was bad, but didn’t know that it was worse than breast cancer! I learned a lot from this post. Thank you for reminding me what is really important!
Oh wow. I didn’t realize that lung cancer was so much more treatable than it used to be. Thank you so much for sharing this!
I did know lung cancer is the leading killer for men and women. What amazes me is the amount of study money going to lung cancer research is like a 1/3 of breast cancer.
It is so great to see people spreading the awareness for this awful disease. There are many facts here that surprised me.
my father in law passed away from lung cancer while I was pregnant with my youngest.. He had quit smoking for a few years after smoking for most of his adult life.
All cancers are terrible and I wished that a cure had been found for all of them. I’m amazed to hear that lung cancer is among the top 10 fatal cancers in non-smokers in the US though.
One of our neighbors was diagnosed over the summer. It’s scary, but thank you for shedding light on it!
My husband’s aunt was diagnosed with an aggressive form of lung cancer yesterday. I just found out today and am deeply saddened.
Lung cancer really scares me. We’ve had a few family members die from it.
Lung Cancer Awareness is so important. We need to know the warning signs. Thanks for the great information.
My husband’s father passed away from lung cancer. This is a cause that is close to us. We do all that we can to help fight this awful disease.
I had no idea the statistics were so high for Lung Cancer. It is so important we do research to figure out how to cure this.
I didn’t realize that so many people have had lung cancer! Thanks for sharing about the treatment options.
I think this is a very important topic. I don’t personally know anyone who has had lung cancer. I still think it’s always something to talk about. Any kind of cancer can be really scary.
Oh my Stacie… almost everything you shared surprised me. I had no idea I knew so little about lung cancer. I have a very dear friend whose husband is dying of lung cancer. It’s heartbreaking and I feel so helpless.
Great information! Lung cancer is such a huge topic. I’ve known some people that have passed away from it.
I lost both my mother and an uncle to lung cancer. It’s horrific having to watch someone you love die from this. Hopefully they will be able to irradicate it.
Awareness is so important, so thank you for sharing. My BIL’s dad recently died from this – so sad!
Thanks for a really informative post. I have lost several family members to that terrible disease, and neither was ever a smoker.
Thank you so much for sharing all this information, so many facts that i had no idea…..We have some relatives who died of cancer, so preventing and screening are the best game plans!
This is such an important post. I don’t think we talk enough about lung cancer and how you don’t need to smoke to get it.
thank you so much. my grandfather died of lung cancer years ago.
It’s amazing how many non smokers get lung cancer.
Great information that everyone should be aware of!
I did not know 1 in 4 people will die from Lung Cancer, I recently lost my mother to this horrible disease( Aug 3, 2016) I watched her widdle away to skin and bone, It was not a pretty picture at all, I am an ex-smoker( 4 yrs) and I am so glad that I quit, I miss my mom dearly and she was so strong through her sickness ,if she had of quit smoking she might be here today