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.