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Lung cancer awareness month

November is lung cancer awareness month. I never knew anyone with lung cancer; I assumed that it only affected people who smoked. But anyone with lungs can get lung cancer. In fact, lung cancer rates are rising among female never-smokers under 55 – particularly Asian and Asian American women. I was diagnosed at age 49; I had no risk factors and had never smoked a single cigarette.

The material below is adapted from https://www.lungcancerresearchfoundation.org/for-patients/free-educational-materials/lung-cancer-facts/

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide.
-About 234,580 people will be diagnosed with lung cancer in 2024 in the U.S.
-1 in 16 people will be diagnosed with lung cancer in their lifetime (1 in 16 men and 1 in 17 women).

Lung cancer kills almost 3 times as many men as prostate cancer and almost 3 times as many women as breast cancer. Lung cancer claims about as many lives each year as breast, pancreatic, and prostate cancer combined.

But these three cancers receive an average of 3x more research funding per life lost than lung cancer – likely because of the stigma associated with smoking. I have friends with all these types of cancer or who have lost loved ones to these cancers; all cancer is horrible and undeserved. I'm sharing these statistics to underscore the prevalence of lung cancer deaths and the dearth of investment in lung cancer research.



Treatments are improving. The number of new lung cancer diagnoses are declining steadily. Since 2006, the incidence rate decreased by 2.5% per year in men and 1% per year in women. Mortality rates are declining even faster, which likely reflects advances in treatment and early detection. My targeted therapy medication, Tagrisso, was first approved in 2015. I am alive because of this scientific breakthrough.



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