The following article has been submitted by Dr. Duane Monteith, MD, FACS, is a cardiothoracic surgeon with the Angelos Center for Lung Diseases at MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center
As the color pink — synonymous with October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month — fades, the colder, darker month of November has come to symbolize a more lethal adversary: a cancer that kills more women annually than breast cancer.
It’s a cancer that kills over three times as many men as prostate cancer. In fact, this cancer kills more Americans each year than breast, prostate, liver and uterine cancer combined. This killer is lung cancer.
An estimated 124,990 people in the United States will die from lung cancer in 2026, according to the National Cancer Institute.
Although tobacco smoking is the leading risk factor for developing lung cancer, other important risk factors include exposure to radon, a naturally occurring radioactive gas found in the soil beneath our homes; asbestos; and secondhand smoke.
Approximately 10 to 20 percent of lung cancer cases occur in people who have never smoked.
If lung cancer in nonsmokers were considered a separate cancer, it would rank as the seventh-deadliest cancer.
Lung cancer also ranks poorly on one of the most common measures of cancer outcomes: the five-year survival rate. Its rate is a dismal 27 percent, compared with 92 percent for breast cancer and 98 percent for prostate cancer.
So, what makes lung cancer so much deadlier than other cancers? One reason is that more than two-thirds of lung cancer cases are diagnosed at an advanced stage, when the disease has already spread and is more difficult to treat.
Additionally, symptoms such as a persistent cough and recurring respiratory infections often do not appear until the cancer has metastasized, or spread to other parts of the body.
There is some good news, however. When lung cancer is detected through screening at its earliest stage, the five-year survival rate increases to approximately 90 percent, significantly improving a patient’s chances of being cured.
A quick, noninvasive and safe screening test for lung cancer is available: a low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) scan. Current and former smokers between the ages of 50 and 80 with at least a 20 pack-year smoking history should be screened. Former smokers must have quit within the past 15 years.
The American Cancer Society recommends that screening be performed by physicians with access to a high-volume, high-quality lung cancer screening program, such as the one at MedStar Health.
Many lung cancer patients speak about the stigma and lack of compassion they face. Sometimes, patients are told they should have quit smoking or never started in the first place.
In reality, many people diagnosed with lung cancer quit smoking decades ago. Others have never smoked at all.
We have all seen the significant, positive impact that increased awareness and widespread screening have had in the fight against breast cancer.
This November, please help spread the word about lung cancer. Talk to your doctor to find out whether you or a loved one should be screened. No one deserves lung cancer.
For more information, call 443-777-1133.