Global estimates from numerous substantiated sources indicate that as many as 25% of all lung cancers worldwide-15% of those in men and 50% of those in women are NOT attributable to smoking!!  Considered as a separate category this makes lung cancer among never-smokers the 7th largest of cancer killers worldwide, ahead of cervical, prostate and pancreatic.  Source: University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center National Cancer Institute Study. 

Efforts to study the disease in never-smokers has been very limited. Along with current and former smokers, absolutely no effective early detection screening or testing approaches that would identify those at increased risk exists today. The inability to recognize those at risk from various factors in never smokers and smokers alike continues to delay diagnosis leaving lung cancer identification to wait until it is in its more advanced stages.  Whether you've ever smoked a single cigarette or not, this is why you should care.  This is why everyone needs to care.

More information and links to sources can be found in the EMPOWER section.

Deb

Driving traffic to the site is an uphill battle without a budget with which to pay the experts, but I didn't expect this to be easy. Launching the site in November was more symbolic for me than anything else.

Once Thanksgiving arrives, the on-set of the holidays always brings particularly painful reminders of what has been lost; the heavy toll that lung cancer has taken on me, and the price my family continues to pay.  I am, we are, all lung cancer survivors. The surviving spouses, surviving mother, sister, brother, cousins, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles and countless friends. When does it end? When do the victims and survivors of lung cancer finally get a real, hopeful shot at something other than a death sentence from this hideous disease?  

Another year; another chance to begin again, start anew, say "no more." Make it count.

Merry Christmas, Dan and Kathy. I haven't forgotten you. I'll try again in 2010.

love and miss, Deb

I can’t think of any circumstances or situations that benefit from complacency. I also can’t think of many where complacency has been as damaging as with respect to lung cancer. The status-quo is killing us one by painful one. The status-quo has left the outcomes for victims of this disease relatively unchanged for over 30 years.  During that time advances in diagnostics, treatments, new drug therapies and mortality rates for other cancers and catastrophic illnesses, AIDS among them, have dramatically improved, including those previously thought to be automatic death sentences. The same cannot be said for the majority afflicted with our disease.  I need to emphasize that I DO NOT include the amazing medical professionals, including researchers who have made dedication to lung cancer their life’s work in this assessment. In fact, I am in awe of the medical professionals who continue to dedicate themselves to treating a disease that is so unforgiving and frequently offers only brief and fleeting encouragement or validation of the work they do. I know these people. Dan and I were the grateful beneficiaries of their compassionate and competent care during the 13 months of his illness. When we weren’t hoping and praying for our own sake, we were secretly cheering for theirs. What if they all got discouraged and said “forget it” one day? What if they were to forsake us for a disease that would more easily and readily make them heroes? These guys are the antithesis of status-quo, and thank the Universe for them.  But it’s time for the rest of us to step up and demand an end to our national complacency with lung cancer; it's time for passage of the game-changing legislation that frees up the funding worthy of their efforts and worthy of us all. You can find out how to do your part on the EMPOWER page.
In the meantime, here are a few places you can go for specific help and information:

NSCLC information and update on clinical trials: http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/treatment/non-small-cell-lung/Patient 

Broad based current, topical information: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/lung-cancer/DS00038

Thanks to everyone who visited the site last week.  The official tally of 1065 hits was an incredible number in the launch week of The Face of Lung Cancer. 68% of the visits came from the US, 18% from Canada and the balance from all around the globe. The press release was picked up by Google, Google News, MSN, Topix and a number of others.  If you missed it, please go to:

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/11/prweb3170344.htm

Back later.

Deb

Following the uplifting October Breast Cancer Awareness Month with its many runs, walks, special events and proceeds of products that challenged us to “Think Pink for the Cure” I’m wondering how it is that by and large even if you’ve been affected by Lung Cancer, you likely don’t know that November is Lung Cancer Awareness month? Lung cancer represents the antithesis of the “cause celeb” for many reasons. First and foremost, we don’t have a celebrity spokesperson. Why? Because of the dismal 5 year survival rates for lung cancer vs. breast or other major cancers.  I would like to think that Peter Jennings or Dana Reeve could have been our person and taken our disease out of the shadows and into the light of public caring.  But like most other victims of this hideous disease, they weren’t left with much time for a PSA (Public Service Announcement) or a lung cancer awareness campaign on our collective behalf.  Think lung cancer is invisible by chance? Think again.  It is the most unsympathetic disease on the planet.  Why? Because the majority among us still believes if they don’t smoke, they don’t have to worry. So wrong, yet so true.  Where are the loved ones of our lost celebrities and why do they not speak up for those they have lost and for the rest of us?

Presently we are stuck in a chicken and egg syndrome fueled by lack of funding, waning legislation, public apathy and misperception and a ticking clock.  In the time it took me to write this, about 400 people received the news that they have lung cancer and about 500 lost their battle with this mass murderer. When will we get angry enough to say NO to lung cancer? When will we finally act and demand that others do the same?

-Deb

Most bills begin by being considered by one or several congressional committees which may “report” favorably or unfavorably to the House or Senate.  This is the process by which pending legislation receives consideration by the full body and moves forward, or wanes, and dies.  Such is presently the case for HR 2112/S332, the Lung Cancer Morality Reduction Act of 2009, previously of 2008 and 2007.  Most bills never receive any committee consideration and are never reported out.  Inaction on the part of our elected officials continues to prevent this critical, life-saving legislation from moving forward.  How long will we let this stand?

Information on committee proceedings is notoriously opaque. Chances are if your member of Congress doesn’t sit on any committee relevant to this bill, you will have no opportunity to voice your opinion while it is receiving its most important consideration.  But you can make your voice heard at this most critical juncture!  Here are the committees presently sitting on this bill and the links you need to get directly to committee members:

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/committee.xpd?id=HSIF  House Committee on Energy and Commerce

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/committee.xpd?id=HSAS  House Armed Services Committee

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/committee.xpd?id=HSVR  House Committee on Veteran’s Affairs

Over 50% of lung cancers are diagnosed at stages 3b-4.  Passage of this bill in 2010 can change this! 14,000 people will die in the month of November alone.  The House meets again on this issue on November 16^th.  Please let them hear from you before they do! 

Monitor House activity on this bill at: http://www.govtrack.us/users/events.xpd?monitors=bill:h111-2112

Deb

While research to screen for lung cancer with a simple blood, sputum or genetic test has been on-going for years, it has yet to yield definitive results. There is no question that this is indirectly related to poor public perception of lung cancer as the smoker’s disease. Without a massive public outcry that demands action by our legislators and the funding legislation would bring, advances will continue at a snail’s pace and hundreds of thousands will continue to die needlessly.  Still, there is hope in the short-term for those at high risk due to genetic predispositions and other health-related issues. CT imaging finally offers an option. There is broad-based agreement by medical experts that CT scans can detect lung cancer at its earliest stage and technological advances are continuing at a rapid pace.

If you know you are at high risk, and most especially if 2 or more people in your immediate family have died of lung cancer in several consecutive generations, speak to your doctor and insist on a CT scan. Such was the case for a friend of mine just this past month.  As a result, his cancer was detected at a very early stage, surgery to remove the disease was successful, no chemo or radiation was required post operatively and his prognosis is excellent.

The message is clear: ADVOCATE, ADVOCATE, ADVOCATE!

November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month: How will you make a difference?

Deb